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LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

Gl  FT    OF 


Class 


SOME  PHASES 

OF 

THE  NEGRO  QUESTION 


BY 
CHARLES  W.  MELICK,  B.Sc.,  M.S. 


1906 
DAVID    H.    DELOE 

MT.  RAINIER.  MD. 
AND  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


ex" 


Copyright,  1908,  by  Charles  \V.  Melick. 
All  rights  Reserved 


INDEX 


PAGE 


Chapter  I.  Origin  of  the  Negro 


2.  Carroll's  Theory  of  the  Origin  of   the  Indian  and 

Mongolian    ........         10 

3.  The  Effect   of   the  Importation  of  the  Negro  Into 

America  and  Influence  of  the  Ballot  in  his  Hands         13 

4.  Rate  of  Increase  of  the  Negro  ...  20 

5.  Negro    Labor    in    Competition    with    Anglo-Saxon 

Labor 22 

6.  Amalgamation  is  Slowly,  but  Gradually,  Increasing         25 

7.  The   Tuskegee    Institute  and  Negro   Education  in 

the  United  States          ...  32 

8.  Statistics  of  the  Negro  in  the  United  States  as  Af 

fected  by  Education      .....  37 

9.  Occupation  of  the  American  Negro  ;  has  Education 

Influenced  it  ?       ....  .44 

10.  The    Influence    of   Booker  T.  Washington  Should 

Extend  to  Liberia         .          .  48 

11.  Two    Factions   Among  the  Negroes  of  the  United 

States .  51 

12.  Opinions    of   Eminent   Northern    Men   Before  and 

After  Having  Visited  the  South  ....         53 

13.  Extracts    from   Senator  Tillman's  Speeches  in  the 

United  States  Senate  Chamber      ...  62 

14.  Literature  on  the  Negro  Question    ....  66 

15.  Local  Option  in  the  South       .         .         .         .         .  71 

16.  References  from  the  Daily  Press       .          .  73 

17.  Results  of  Colonizing  the  American  Negro  in  Africa  78 

18.  The  Opinion  of  Americo- Africans  Regarding  Col 

onization  There    .......         86 

19.  General  Conclusions         .          .  89 

182799 


INTRODUCTION 


Having  spent  the  first  twenty-nine  years  of  my  life  in  the  Middle 
West,  chiefly  in  Nebraska,  and  having  only  a  meager  conception  of 
conditions  existing  in  the  South,  like  most  other  northern  and  western 
people  I  did  not  at  that  time  interest  myself  in  the  race  problem, 
because  there  are  so  few  negroes  in  those  localities  that  one's  attention 
is  seldom  attracted  to  it  there. 

In  1906  my  profession  called  me  to  Maryland,  where  about  one- 
fourth  of  the  population  of  that  state  are  negroes. 

I  at  once  noticed  an  entirely  different  attitude  of  both  races  toward 
each  other  than  that  which  prevailed  in  the  West.  In  traveling  through 
many  of  the  states  farther  south  I  noticed  a  still  more  intense  feeling. 
Almost  unknowingly  I  began  to  study  the  question,  and  discussed  it 
with  a  great  many  southern  and  northern  people,  who,  like  myself,  had 
come  south  to  live.  Without  exception,  every  northern  person  with 
whom  I  conversed  had  acquired  an  aversion  for  the  negro,  which 
continued  to  grow  in  negro  environment. 

In  the  North  we  met  the  best  class  of  negroes,  well-dressed,  as  waiters 
and  porters,  where  for  twenty-five-cent  tips  they  are  very  polite  and 
obliging.  They  lack  the  initiative  and  the  power  to  lead,  but  are 
imitative,  and  the  majority  of  them  can  be  taught  to  skillfully  perform 
certain  lines  of  work,  and,  under  the  direction  of  more  intelligent  white 
men,  become  valuable  laborers. 

A  few  negroes  in  an  environment  of  hustling  western  whites  are  far 
superior  to  those  of  a  population  of  one-third  negroes  in  the  South. 

In  the  South  we  see  them  in  groups  of  hundreds,  ragged,  dirty, 
ignorant,  and  having  a  pungent,  sickening  odor. 

In  a  community  of  10,000  white  inhabitants  and  25  negroes,  the 
question  is  an  academic  one,  and  the  doctrinarian  and  sentimentalist 
have  an  easy  time  with  it.  In  a  community  of  10,000  white  inhab 
itants  and  2,000  negroes  there  is  less  philosophy  and  more  silence.  In 
a  community  of  10,000  white  inhabitants  and  10,000  negroes  the  police 
man  supersedes  the  philosopher  in  relative  importance,  and  the  problem 
moves  along  as  best  it  can  under  the  circumstances. 


The  South  has  acted  wisely  in  excluding  the  illiterate  negro  front 
the  right  of  suffrage,  and  it  is  determined  that  the  white  race  shall 
continue  to  control  the  political  developments  of  the  country,  as  it 
should.  This  deprives  the  negro  of  no  legal  right,  for  it  also  disfran 
chises  the  illiterate  white,  a  law  which  should  prevail  in  every  state 
in  the  Union. 

In  many  districts  of  the  South  racial  conditions  are  nothing  less  than 
appalling;  a  disgrace  to  civilization.  Here  an  unnatural  condition 
exists  in  which  the  application  of  the  golden  rule  would  be  almost  a 
miracle.  Immediately  after  the  Civil  War  a  few  northern  politicians 
succeeded  in  passing  laws  enfranchising  the  negroes,  regardless  of  edu 
cational  or  other  qualifications,  while  the  southern  whites  who  partici 
pated  in  the  war  were  disfranchised  for  from  four  to  twelve  years, 
depending  upon  their  official  position  in  the  Confederacy.  The  negroes 
proved  themselves  entirely  incapable  of  executive  ability,  and  the 
southern  whites  then  wrested  the  power  from  them  contrary  to 
existing  laws. 

This  condition  naturally  developed  the  worst  side  of  the  negro  of  the 
South,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  educated  members  of  his  race,  he 
is  less  competent  or  trustworthy  to-day  than  in  slavery  times.  While 
there  are  still  a  few  good  old  mammies  and  slaves  with  whom  their 
employers  would  not  part,  the  average  southern  negro  is  a  degenerate. 

The  South  is  passing  from  an  agricultural  order,  depressed  by 
poverty  and  misrule,  to  an  industrial  democracy,  wherein  it  is  regaining 
its  natural  state. 

The  southern  people  have  developed  an  overwhelming  public  senti 
ment  in  favor  of  education  of  all  classes  at  public  expense,  thus  making 
of  a  social  system,  semi-feudal  in  character,  a  democracy  in  social  usage, 
as  well  as  in  political  philosophy. 

Perhaps  the  chief  political  constructive  act  of  southern  genius  with 
reference  to  the  negro  has  been  the  elimination  of  the  idea  of  manhood 
suffrage,  regardless  of  qualifications,  thus  removing  the  ignorant  blacks 
from  politics  and  drawing  their  attention  to  industrial  life. 

The  South  does  not  want  so  much  to  rid  herself  of  the  negroes  as  to 
place  them  on  a  level  commensurate  with  their  ability.  She  wants  to 
retain  them  as  servants,  eliminating  social  and  legal  equality.  In  doing 
this  contrary  to  existing  laws  it  has  been  necessary  to  resort  to  severe 
and  almost  inhuman  means.  It  would  therefore  be  advantageous  for 
both  races  if  the  negroes  would  consent  to  colonization  in  Africa,  South 
America,  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  the  Philippines,  or  even  in  Florida  and 
enough  adjacent  territory  to  support  them. 

The  North  admits  that  it  was  a  stupendous  error  for  a  few  northern 
politicians  to  enfranchise  the  negro,  and  the  South  admits  the  wrong  of 
slavery.  The  only  present  difference  of  opinion  is  due  to  the  existing 


local  environment  with  reference  to  the  negro.  This  difference  will 
continue  to  exist  so  long  as  there  is  a  difference  in  the  proportion  of 
negroes  to  white  population  in  the  two  sections.  Should  the  proportion 
of  negroes  to  whites  become  the  same  throughout  the  United  States  or 
amalgamation  be  effected,  then  the  difference  of  opinion  will  be 
obliterated. 

Having  thus  observed  race  conditions  in  various  states  of  environ 
ment,  having  read  numerous  misleading  magazine  articles  and  books 
on  the  subject,  having  received  frequent  inquiries  from  friends  of  the 
middle  west  regarding  the  negro  of  the  South,  and  believing  that  the 
people  of  the  North  and  West  should  know  southern  racial  conditions  as 
they  actually  exist,  I  spent  my  spare  evenings  for  a  few  weeks  and 
wrote  this  book  from  an  unprejudiced  standpoint. 

I  have  quoted  others  extensively,  because  of  their  eminence  and 
authority  on  the  questions  at  issue;  also  to  substantiate  my  views.  All 
of  those  quoted  have  lived  in  the  South  long  enough  to  familiarize 
themselves  with  race  conditions. 

The  book  was  written  for  popular  reading,  and  those  who  do  not 
accept  the  theory  of  the  evolution  of  man  are  given  a  plausible  and 
well  substantiated  line  of  thought  regarding  the  development  of  the 
negro. 

The  race  problem  in  the  United  States  is  gradually  turning  toward 
amalgamation  and  local  option.  If  this  does  not  meet  the  approval  of 
the  American  people  they  should  interest  themselves  enough  to  take 
some  definite  action  toward  colonization  or  some  other  solution. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ORIGIN  oi>  THE  NEGRO. 

With  a  view  to  studying  the  race  question  from  an  unprejudiced 
standpoint  let  us  consider  briefly  the  two  theories  of  man's  creation, 
trace  them  down  to  the  present  time,  and  see  what  bearing  they  have 
upon  present  racial  conditions  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

1.  Divine  Creation. 

2.  Natural  Development. 

In  the  former,  "God  formed  man  out  of  the  dust  of  the  ground  and 
breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life  and  man  became  a  living 
soul,"  and  in  "the  image  of  God;"  ''Thou  mad'st  him  a  little  lower 
than  the  angels  and  hast  crowned  him  with  glory  and  honor." 

Such  creative  power  is  similar  to  that  of  the  birth  of  Jesus,  born 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  a  human  being,  his  mother,  and  God.  a  spirit,  his 
father. 

These  biblical  teachings  can  be  harmonized  with  the  scientific  theories 
of  "Natural  Development"  in  two  ways :  First,  as  described  by 
Winchell  in  "Pre-Adamites,"  where  he  shows  how  the  Almighty  may 
have  created  man  by  "Natural  Development,"  according  to  the  following 
diagram,  in  which  the  sixth  day  spoken  of  in  Genesis  extended,  as  did 
the  other  days  of  that  chapter,  through  unknown  centuries. 

Second,  by  combining  the  essential  part  of  this  theory  with  that  of 
Divine  Creation,  we  may  assume  that  Adam  and  Eve  were  instantly 
made  by  the  Almighty  God  and  arc  the  progenitors  of  the  Caucasia. i 
race,  while  the  lower  orders  of  man  advanced  by  evolution  to  their 
present  state  of  development. 

The  Caucasian  differs  from  all  other  races;  he  is  humane,  civilized, 
and  progressive.  He  conquers  with  his  head  as  well  as  with  his  hands. 
It  is  intellect,  after  all,  that  conquers,  not  the  strength  of  man's  arm. 
The  Caucasian  has  often  been  master  of  the  other  races — never  their 
slave.  He  has  carried  his  religion  to  their  races,  but  never  taken  theirs. 
All  the  great  limited  forms  of  monarchies  are  Caucasian ;  republics  are 
Caucasian.  All  the  great  sciences  are  of  Caucasian  origin ;  all  inven 
tions  are  Caucasian ;  literature  and  romance  came  from  the  same  stock ; 
all  the  great  poets  are  of  Caucasian  origin.  No  other  race  can  bri.ig 
up  to  memory  such  celebrated  names  as  the  Caucasian  race. 


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The  white  race  has  an  intensity  of  will  and  desire  which  is  controlled 
by  intellectuality. 

Great  things  are  undertaken  readily,  but  not  blindly.  It  manifests 
a  strong  utilitarianism,  united  with  a  powerful  imagination,  which 
elevates,  ennobles,  and  idealizes  its  practical  ideas.  The  negro  can 
only  imitate,  the  Chinese  only  utilize  the  work  of  the  white,  while  the 
latter  is  abundantly  capable  of  producing  new  works.  His  high  sense 
of  honor  is  a  faculty  unknown  to  other  races,  and  springs  from  an 
exalted  sentiment  of  which  they  show  no  indications.  His  sensations 
are  less  intense  than  in  either  the  black  or  yellow,  but  his  mentality  is 
far  more  developed  and  energetic. 

In  support  of  the  theory  of  Divine  Creation  we  have  the  Bible  and 
its  millions  of  teachers.  In  support  of  the  theory  of  "Evolution"  we 
have  many  of  the  Bible  teachers  and  thousands  of  scientists  who  com 
prise  the  foremost  body  of  intellectual  instructors  and  investigators  of 
modern  times.  There  is  in  reality  no  conflict  between  the  two,  for,  as 
we  have  previously  shown,  God  in  His  wisdom  could  have  created  man 
in  either  of  the  two  ways. 

A  fire-mist  and  a  planet, 

A  crystal  and  a  cell, 
A  jelly-fish  and  a  saurian, 

And  caves  where  cave-men  dwell ; 
Then  a  sense  of  law  and  beauty, 

And  a  face  turned  from  the  clod; 
Some  call  it  Evolution, 

And  others  call  it  God. 

A  haze  on  the  far  horizon, 

The  infinite  tender  sky, 
The  ripe,  rich  tints  of  the  cornfields, 

And  the  wild  geese  sailing  high, 
And  all  over — upland  and  lowland — 

The  charm  of  the  golden-rod ; 
Some  of  us  call  it  Autumn, 

And  others  call  it  God. 

L,ike  tides  on  a  crescent  sea-beach, 

When  the  moon  is  new  and  thin, 
Into  our  hearts  high  yearnings 

Come  welling  and  surging  in; 
Come  from  the  mystic  ocean, 

Whose  rim  no  foot  has  trod ; 
Some  of  us  call  it  Longing, 

And  others  call  it  God. 

— William  Herbert  Carruth. 

According  to  science,  every  living  creature  passes  through  the  various 
stages  of  development  of  its  race. 


Ckiss,  Mamalia. 
Order,  Bimana. 
Genus,  Homo. 
Species,  Man. 

— Dr.  Young. 

I  have  seen  negro  boys,  two  and  three  years  old,  sleep  sitting  on  their 
"haunches,"  as  it  may  best  be  expressed,  resting  their  head  on  their 
knees;  a  position  that  is  common  in  the  ape  tribe. 

H.  M.  Bernelot  Moens,  Dutch  professor  of  zoology,  left  Paris  March 
27,  1908,  with  a  scientific  expedition  for  the  French  Congo.  The 
financial  backing  for  the  affair  is  provided  by  Queen  Wilhelmina  of 
Holland,  the  prince  consort  and  the  queen  mother.  The  Pasteur 
Institute,  of  Paris,  is  also  aiding  the  expedition,  and  the  French  govern 
ment  has  instructed  the  governor  of  the  French  Congo  to  assist  in  every 
possible  way. 

The  object  of  this  expedition  is  to  create  a  new  race  midway  between 
the  anthropoid  (man-like)  apes  and  the  Congolese  negroes.  Fossil 
skulls  that  have  been  found — one  near  Dusseldorf  in  1856,  a  second 
in  a  cave  near  Namur  in  1879,  and  a  third  in  the  Isle  of  Java  in 
1891 — prove  that  such  an  intermediate  race  once  existed.  Professor 
Moens  believes  that  the  time  is  come  for  science,  in  full  freedom  and 
disregarding  religious  prejudices,  to  experiment  in  this  field.  Speak 
ing  of  this  investigation,  Professor  Moens  said : 

"The  anthropoid  ape  is  the  type  nearest  to  man.  It  has  the  same 
number  of  bones,  the  same  number  of  muscles,  the  teeth  are  similar, 
the  nervous  system  is  the  same,  and  the  embryonic  evolution  the  same. 

"Recent  researches  prove  that  identical  blood  circulates  in  man  and 
the  anthropoid  ape.  This  fact  is  of  extreme  importance,  for  animals 
not  closely  akin  have  blood  of  different  composition.  That  is,  we 
cannot  succeed  in  mixing  those  bloods.  When  the  blood  of  a  cat  is 
mixed  with  the  blood  of  a  hare  both  animals  die  in  a  few  minutes  of 
convulsive  attacks.  On  tke  other  hand,  we  can  mix  the  blood  of  the 
rabbit  with  that  of  the  hare,  of  tl*e  horse  and  the  donkey,  and  the  blood 
of  a  dog  and  a  wolf  without  destroying  the  red  corpuscles.  Also. 
experience  shows  that  such  kindred  animals  can  breed  and  have 
descendants ;  then  why  not  the  hybrid  of  a  man  and  an  anthropoid  ape  ? 
Science  has  already  crossed  the  various  apes,  overcoming  the  prejudices 
and  dislikes  of  these  animals  for  each  other  by  artificial  means. 

"The  crossing  of  anthropoids  with  the  lower  apes  is  of  great  value 
to  science.  It  now  remains  for  science  to  cross  anthropoids  with  the 
higher  race,  and  I  have  chosen  the  negroes  of  the  French  Congo  as 
being  the  nearest  of  all  humans  to  these  apes.  Of  course,  you  under 
stand  I  shall  use  artificial  methods,  selecting  as  mothers  the  youngest 
and  healthiest  specimens  of  the  anthropoid  apes.  I  expect  also  to  carry 
on  similar  experiments  with  Congolese  negroes  and  female  gorillas  and 


7 

chimpanzees.  Unscientific  people  may  criticise  this  work,  but  it  is 
of  the  greatest  value  as  showing  the  origin  and  development  of  the 
human  race." 

The  fifth,  ninth,  tenth  and  eleventh  chapters  of  Genesis ;  the  first 
chapter  of  ist  Chronicles,  and  the  first  chapter  of  Matthew,  upon  which 
the  theory  of  the  descent  of  the  negro  from  Ham  is  based,  does  not 
convey  that  idea  to  the  thoughtful  reader.  Genesis  10-19  proves  the 
contrary. 

If  the  Hamite  origin  of  the  negro  were  true,  the  Hottentots,  Aus 
tralians,  Papuan  and  negroes  have  greatly  degenerated,  contrary  to  all 
the  laws  of  nature,  as  will  be  observed  by  the  outline  on  pages  5  and  6. 

Dr.  Winchell  says : 

"Negroes  are  void  of  sensibility  to  a  surprising  degree.  They  are  not  sub 
ject  to  nervous  disease,  nor  does  any  mental  disturbance  keep  them  awake. 

"The  mental  indolence  of  negroes  is  further  shown  in  the  comparative  rec 
ords  of  insanity  and  idiocy.  While  among  whites  mania  occurs  in  the  pro 
portion  of  0.76  per  thousand,  among  negroes  it  is  only  o-io  per  thousand. 
While  idiocy  among  the  former  is  0.73  per  thousand,  among  the  latter  it  is 
0.37  per  thousand. 

"Let  me  mention  one  fact  especially,  drawn  from  my  own  experience  of 
forty  years. 

"The  coarseness  of  their  organization  makes  them  require  about  double 
the  dose  of  ordinary  medicine  used  for  whites. 

"The  exemption  of  the  negro  from  malarial  diseases,  and  sundry  other 
pathological  affections  of  the  white  race  is  another  significant  diagnostic.  If 
the  population  of  New  England,  Germany,  France,  England,  or  other  north 
ern  climates,  should  come  to  Mobile,  or  to  New  Orleans,  a  large  propor 
tion  would  die  of  yellow  fever.  On  the  contrary,  negroes,  under  all  cir 
cumstances,  enjoy  an  almost  perfect  exemption  from  the  disease,  even 
though  brought  from  our  northern  states. 

"In  the  negro  the  development  of  the  body  is  generally  in  advance  of  the 
white.  His  wisdom  teeth  are  cut  sooner;  and  in  estimating  the  age  of  his 
skull  we  must  reckon  it  as  at  least  five  years  in  advance  of  the  white. 

"The  person  of  the  white  exhales  an  odor  which  is  scarcely  perceptible, 
and  not  especially  offensive.  In  striking  contrast  to  this  the  negro  is  char 
acterized  by  a  very  strong,  offensive  odor. 

"Among  negroes  the  forearm  is  longer  in  proportion  to  the  arm  than  is 
the  case  with  whites.  The  same  is  true  of  anthropoid  apes.  The  negro's 
arm  when  suspended  by  the  side  reaches  the  knee-pan  within  a  distance  of 
only  four  and  three-eighths  per  cent  of  the  whole  length  of  the  body.  The 
white  man's  arm  reaches  the  knee-pan  within  a  distance  which  is  seven 
and  one-half  per  cent  of  the  whole  length  of  the  body.  This  length  of  the 
arm  is  a  quadrumanous  characteristic. 

"The  teeth  of  the  negro  are  wider  apart  than  in  the  white  races,  beauti 
fully  white,  very  firm  and  sound,  and  set  slanting  in  the  jaw.  Their  ears 
are  small,  round,  and  their  border  not  well  curled,  the  lobule  short  and 
scarcely  detached,  and  the  auditory  opening  wide.  The  neck  is  short,  lips 
thick,  hair  woolly,  nose  flat,  calves  slender,  and  the  retreating  contour  of 
the  chin  as  compared  with  the  European  approximates  the  negro  to  the 
chimpanzee  and  lower  mammals.  The  entire  face,  and  especially  the  lower 
portion,  projects  forward.  The  face  occupies  the  greater  portion  of  the 
total  length  of  the  head.  The  anterior  cranium  is  less  developed  than  the 


posterior,  relatively  to  that  of  the  white.     In  other  words,  the  negro  has 
the  cerebral  cranium  less  developed  than  the  white. 

"In  some  parts  of  southern  Asia  and  eastern  Africa  the  natives  live  to 
gether  in  herds  without  the  slightest  attempt  at  clothing,  and  their  whole 
mode  of  living  shows  much  more  resemblance  to  that  of  hordes  of  wild 
apes  than  to  any  civilized  community. 

\ 

There  are  also  places  in  rural  districts  of  Louisiana  where  the  negroes 
live  in  a  similar  manner.  They  live  in  large  colonies,  poor,  filthy, 
diseased,  and  act  like  semi-savages. 

"It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  chimpanzees  and  monkeys  of  Africa  use 
stones  to  crack  nuts,  and  throw  them  with  almost  as  much  accuracy  as  the 
natives  of  that  continent. 

"Burrons  chimpanzee  offered  people  his  arm  and  walked  with  them  in  an 
orderly  manner.  He  also  used  a  knife  and  fork  while  eating." 

This  is  only  one  of  the  thousands  of  similar  known  instances  of 
almost  human  intelligence  that  have  been  displayed  by  these  animals. 
In  view  of  the  fact  that  all  nature  tends  to  rise  in  the  scale  of  life,  is  it 
any  wonder  that  science  was  led  to  trace  the  relationship  of  such 
human-acting  creatures  to  the  lowest  forms  of  man  ? 

"The  inferiority  of  the  negro  is  fundamentally  structural.  1  have  enum 
erated  the  points  in  his  anatomy  in  which  he  diverges  from  the  white  race 
and  have  indicated  that,  in  all  these  particulars,  he  approximates  the  organ 
isms  below.  It  follows  that  what  the  negro  is  structurally  at  the  present 
time  is  the  best  he  has  ever  been.  It  follows  that  he  has  not  descended 
from  Adam." 

Negroes  know  no  bashfulness,  and  arc  never  ashamed  of  their  con 
duct.  If  accused  they  enumerate  all  sorts  of  excuses,  and  assume  a 
look  of  innocence  that  would  do  credit  to  a  saint. 

On  March  12,  1908,  I  saw  a  negro  boy,  evidently  about  thirteen 
years  old,  being  led  by  handcuffs  through  the  Baltimore  union  depot. 
He  walked  erect,  rattled  his  handcuffs,  and  attracted  attention,  with 
apparent  pride  in  the  performance.  Eye-witnesses  to  his  theft  said 
that  he  professed  absolute  ignorance  of  it. 

Dr.  Winchell  also  says  that  capacity  of  cranium  is  universally  recog 
nized  as  a  criterion  of  psychic  power. 

"The  average  weight  of  the  European  brain,  male  and  female,  is  1340 
grams;  that  of  the  negro  is  n/8;  of  the  Hottentot,  974.  The  brain  of 
Byron,  the  poet,  at  36  years  of  age,  weighed  1807  grams,  and  that  of  Cuvier, 
the  naturalist,  at  63  years,  weighed  1829  grams." 

The  following  table  shows  the  inferiority  of  an  admixture  of  negro 

blood  : 


Weight  of  brain  in  grams. 

24  whites 1424  grams. 

25  three-quarters  white 1390 

47  one-half  white 1334 

51  one-quarter  white 1319 

95  one-eighth  white 1308 

22  one-sixteenth  white 1280 

50  negroes > 1278 

— Anthropology. 

Notwithstanding  these  facts,  there  are  some  who  claim  that  the  negro 
is  the  equal  of  the  Caucasian. 

Dr.  Hrdlicka,  of  the  Smithsonian  and  National  Museum,  and  one 
of  the  best  authorities  on  the  subject,  says: 

''While  the  chimpanzee  is  very  close  to  man  in  a  great  many  respects,  yet 
it  is  probable  that  the  one  or  several  direct  progenitors  of  mankind  were 
other  primates,  now  modified  or  extinct-  Man's  evolution  has  doubtless 
been  in  most  respects  gradual,  and  intermediary  forms  between  the  last 
ape-primate  and  the  actual  man  were  surely  innumerable." 

Such  evolution  of  the  negro  is  certainly  no  more  improbable  than 
that  of  the  domestic  fowl  from  the  snake  family,  as  proved  by  science. 

The  earliest  known  historical  reference  to  the  "races  of  men"  is 
given  by  Plato,  300  years  B.  C.  His  father,  Solon,  a  law-giver  of 
Athens,  spent  ten  years  in  Egypt,  where  he  obtained  fragments  of  the 
history  of  the  lost  continent  of  Atlantis,  from  which  the  earliest  races 
probably  sprung.  Plato  frequently  alludes  to  "the  human  race"  and 
"the  race  of  men." 

Since  Plato's  time,  Darwin,  Haeckel,  Huxley,  Tyndall,  Spencer, 
Winchell,  M.  de  Quatrefages  and  others  have  traced  the  probable 
development  of  certain  species  of  animals  to  the  lower  species  of  man, 
types  of  the  negro,  leaving  us  to  conclude  for  ourselves  whether  or  not 
the  Malay,  Indian,  Mongolian  and  Caucasian  developed  from  the 
former. 

From  this  we -may  assume  that  whether  we  believe  in  the  theory  of 
Natural  Development,  or  Divine  Creation,  the  negro  descended  from  a 
species  of  prehistoric  animal  of  which  there  may  be  several  "missing 
links." 


CHAPTER  II. 

CARROLL'S  THEORY  OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE:  INDIAN  AND  MONGOLIAN. 

History  has  taught  us  that  in  all  great  migrations,  where  one  class  of 
people  migrated  to  or  invaded  another  country,  one  of  three  conditions 
is  inevitable : 

First,  the  invaders  might  absorb  and  finally  exterminate  the  original 
inhabitants. 

Second,  they  might  be  driven  out  by  the  original  possessors  of  the 
country. 

Third,  they  might  be  absorbed  by  the  original  inhabitants. 

The  first  condition  mentioned  was  what  happened  with  regard  to  the 
North  American  Indians.  There  was  no  absorption  or  amalgamation ; 
they  were  driven  westward,  step  by  step,  as  the  white  man  advanced. 

Examples  of  the  second  are  numerous  among  the  various  tribes  of 
Africa.  The  Jews  of  Russia  may  also  be  included  in  this  class. 

As  to  the  third,  the  belief  is  quite  prevalent  that  the  Indian  and 
Mongolian  are  the  result  of  an  amalgamation  of  the  Caucasian  race  and 
those  of  the  Malay  and  negro. 

Many  of  the  nations  that  have  achieved  greatness  and  whose  powers 
are  a  thing  of  the  past  have  probably  been  reduced  to  their  present 
condition  by  the  adoption  of  such  methods. 

Greece,  Rome  and  China  are  the  most  remarkable  examples  of  this 
phenomena.  Carroll  discusses  the  subject  as  follows: 

"Mixed  bloods  in  which  the  white  blood  largely  predominates  may,  under 
favorable  conditions,  retain  more  or  less  of  their  inherited  possessions  for 
an  indefinite  period.  From  among  the  numerous  examples  of  this  kind 
which  are  furnished  by  various  continents  we  shall  select  Greece  as  an 
illustration,  since  her  history,  both  ancient  and  modern,  is  more  generally 
understood. 

"There  was  a  period  in  the  history  of  Greece  when  her  people  were  famed 
throughout  the  world  for  their  white  skins,  their  fair  hair,  and  their  posses 
sion  of  all  the  exalted  physical  and  mental  characters  which  are  peculiar 
to  that  sublime  creature  whom  God  honored  in  the  creation  by  the  bestowal 
of  His  'likeness'  and  His  'image.'  In  that  remote  age  of  her  history,  Greece 
gave  to  posterity  a  galaxy  of  intellects  whose  names  and  whose  achieve 
ments  adorn  the  brightest  pages  in  the  world's  history.  But,  alas !  alas ! 
their  towering  intellectuality,  their  boundless  enterprise,  their  resistless 
energy,  their  dauntless  courage,  combined  with  their  forgetfulness  of  God, 
paved'  the  way  to  their  ruin.  During  their  various  wars  thousands  of 


11 

negroes  were  captured  and  imported  into  Greece  as  slaves,  together  with 
thousands  of  captives  taken  from  the  mixed-blooded  tribes  and  nations 
against  whom  Greece  waged  war. 

"These  were  never  exported,  yet  they  have  long  since  disappeared,  leaving 
no  progeny  of  negroes  in  their  stead.  And  it  is  a  scientific  fact,  and  one 
which  no  anthropologist,  no  historian,  and  no  traveler  will  deny,  that  the 
white-skinned,  fair-haired  Greek  of  ancient  times  has  also  disappeared,  leav 
ing  no  progeny  of  white-skinned,  fair-haired  Greeks. 

"What  became  of  them?  A  glance  at  our  surroundings  should  convince 
us  that,  in  an  evil  hour,  amalgamation  laid  its  blighting  touch  upon  the 
vitals  of  Greece;  and,  in  the  course  of  centuries,  under  its  destructive  influ 
ences,  the  white-skinned,  fair-haired  Greek  and  the  black-skinned,  woolly- 
haired  negro  disappeared,  and  were  replaced  by  the  dark-haired  Greek  of 
modern  times.  This  radical  change  in  the  physical  characteristics  of  her 
population  was  accompanied  by  a  corresponding  change  in  their  mentality, 
and  consequently  in  the  status  of  Greece  among  the  nations  of  the  earth; 
and  that  fair  land,  once  the  home  of  the  highest  culture,  became  the  abode 
of  ignorance  and  superstition.  Many  a  long  century  has  dragged  its  weary 
length  into  eternity  since  Greece  produced  a  Homer,  an  Aristides,  a  Hero 
dotus,  a  Pericles,  a  Solon,  a  Plato,  or  a  Demosthenes. 

"Pausing  amid  the  busy  scenes  of  daily  life  to  view  the  routes  which  man 
has  trodden  from  the  creation  to  the  crucifixion,  or  even  down  to  the  fall 
of  the  Roman  Empire,  or  down  to  our  day,  if  you  will,  we  observe  the 
wrecks  of  principalities,  kingdoms  and  empires,  with  here  and  there  one 
which  in  the  zenith  of  its  wealth  and  power  ruled  the  world.  But,  alas  ! 
their  glory  has  departed;  their  once  intellectual,  cultured  and  powerful 
populations  no  longer  grace  the  earth ;  their  name  is  history ;  in  many 
instances  even  their  national  boundaries  are  stricken  from  the  maps  of  the 
world;  their  once  fertile  fields  that  bloomed  and  fruited  in  the  smiles  of 
heaven  and  yielded  an  abundant  harvest  as  the  reward  of  intelligent,  indus 
trious  culture  are  now  barren  wastes ;  their  former  cities,  once  the  flourish 
ing  marts  of  the  world's  commerce,  are  now  buried  beneath  the  earth,  or 
if  any  vestige  of  them  remains  upon  its  surface  still,  a  mass  of  ruins  alone 
mark  their  sites ;  their  once  splendid  capitals,  within  the  palaces  of  which 
royalty,  the  nobility,  the  intellect,  the  culture,  the  beauty,  the  chivalry,  the 
wealth  and  fashion  of  those  ancient  realms  held  high  revel,  are  now  swept 
from  the  earth,  or  are  in  ruins.  Like  Petra,  Idumea's  once  proud  capital, 
they  are  degraded  to  a  fold  for  herds  and  flocks ;  or,  like  Ninevah,  that 
city  that  'dwelt  carelessly,'  they  have  become  a  'desolation — a  place  for 
beasts  to  lie  down  in' ;  or,  like  Palenque,  the  ruins  of  their  former  beauties 
and  grandeurs  are  now  buried  in  the  gloom  and  solitude  of  the  jungle. 
Their  histories  or  their  traditions,  if  any  have  descended  to  us,  or  their 
monuments  or  their  inscriptions,  if  any  remain,  all  teach  us  that  in  their 
prosperous  days  the  white  and  black — man  and  negro — were  represented  in 
their  populations.  But,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  it  is  nevertheless  true  thru 
any  remnant  of  their  descendants  which  can  be  identified  are  colored — some 
shade  of  brown  or  yellow.  If  neither  history,  nor  tradition,  nor  monument, 
nor  inscription,  nor  any  remnant  of  their  descendants  can  be  found,  an 
investigation  of  the  ruins  of  their  civilization  reveals  the  idol — the  most 
infallible  evidence  that  amalgamation  destroyed  them." 

"Many  valuable  arts  which  these  ancient  whites  possessed  were  inherited 
by  their  mixed-blooded  descendants  and  lost;  such  as  the  art  of  tempering 
copper  to  the  hardness  of  steel,  etc/ 

"On  the  monuments  of  Central  America  there  are  representations  of 
bearded  men.  How  could  the  beardless  American  Indian  have  imagined  a 
bearded  race? 


12 

''Professor  Wilson  describes  the  hair  of  the  ancient  Peruvians  as  found 
upon  their  mummies  as  a  light  brown  and  of  a  fineness  of  texture  which 
equals  the  Anglo-Saxon  race. 

"Ancient  ruins  of  remarkable  edifices  were  found  near  Hungaria,  and 
described  by  Cieca  de  Leon,  who  said  that,  according  to  tradition,  that  city 
was  built  by  bearded  white  men  who  came  there  long  before  the  time  of 
Incas  and  established  a  settlement." 

Quatrefages  says :  "In  the  crossings  between  unequal  human  races 
the  father  almost  always  belongs  to  the  superior  race.  In  every  case, 
and  especially  in  the  transient  amours,  woman  refuses  to  lower  herself ; 
man  is  less  delicate."  This  is  also  proven  in  the  association  of  the 
whites  and  negroes  of  America. 

According  to  Renouf,  Wilkerson,  Rawlinson,  Legge,  Clark  and  Max 
Muller,  many  of  the  mixed-blooded  races,  such  as  the  Chinese,  Hindoos, 
Egyptians,  etc.,  have  preserved  some  of  the  literature  of  their  white 
ancestors.  Careful  investigation  of  this  literature  reveals  the  fact  that 
their  remote  ancestors  were  monotheists.  Yet  in  every  instance  their 
mixed-blooded  descendants,  when  far  removed  from  the  influence  of 
the  whites,  have  lost  all  knowledge  of  God,  and  have  in  many  instances 
descended  to  idolatry. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  IMPORTATION  OF  THE  NEGRO  TO  AMERICA,  AND 
INFLUENCE  OF  THE  BALLOT  IN  His  HANDS. 

From  time  immemorial  the  various  tribes  of  Africa  have  made  slaves 
not  only  of  their  enemies,  but  also  of  numbers  of  their  own  tribes. 
Almost  every  European  nation  has  from  time  to  time  secured  and 
retained  as  slaves  these  blacks  of  Africa. 

Negroes  were  not,  as  a  rule,  filched  from  their  homes  by  white  depre 
dators,  but  were  gathered  into  convict  gangs  by  their  own  village  chiefs 
and  driven  to  the  baracoons  (barracks),  where  they  were  held  until 
purchased  and  shipped  oft"  to  foreign  lands.  Neighbors  who  had 
domestic  quarrels  had  only  to  prefer  charges  of  witchcraft  in  order  to 
get  each  other  into  the  chain  gang,  ordeals  by  poison,  or  fire,  deter 
mining  their  guilt,  subject  to  the  caprice  of  the  petty  officials  adminis 
tering  them,  and  these  in  turn  were  easily  susceptible  to  bribes.  As  a 
rule,  white  slave  traders,  or  contractors,  as  they  were  termed,  had 
native  chiefs  in  their  service,  who  went  on  raids  for  the  purpose  of 
collecting  slaves  for  export ;  so  that,  between  the  upper  and  nether 
millstones,  common  people  had  a  poor  chance  for  a  permanent  residence 
on  the  Dark  Continent. 

Following  this  custom,  a  Dutch  trader  sailed  to  Liberia,  situated 
on  the  western , coast  of  Africa,  and  captured  in  1620  a  ship  load  of 
these  black  natives  of  the  jungle,  and,  thinking  only  of  his  ill-gotten 
gain,  regardless  of  the  future  results  upon  the  nation,  introduced  the 
slave  trade  into  America. 

At  that  time  the  people  of  the  southern  States  were  as  loath  to 
keeping  slaves  as  were  those  of  the  northern  States.  No  slave  was 
ever  brought  to  this  country  by  a  southern  vessel. 

From  1620  to  1864  negroes  were  kept  as  slaves  south  of  Mason  and 
Dixon's  Line  (boundary  line  between  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania), 
where  they  cultivated  cotton,  tobacco,  and  corn.  During  this  time  they 
learned  to  till  the  soil,  harvest  crops,  raise  live  stock,  and  some  of  them 
learned  the  rudiments  of  the  carpenter  trade. 

Their  contact  with  American  people,  especially  on  the  plantations  of 
men  like  George  Washington,  had  a  tendency  to  make  them  more 
capable  of  making  a  living  and  supporting  a  family  than  in  their  natural 


14 

state.  They  were  still  entirely  incapable  of  managing  their  own  affairs, 
but  in  this  condition  were  turned  loose  in  1864  a  free  race  among  the 
most  highly  civilized  people  of  the  world.  Some  of  them  were  glad  to 
get  away  from  cruel  traders ;  others  refused  to  leave  good  masters. 

Through  the  influence  of  United  States  Senators  Thaddeus  Stevens 
and  Charles  Sumner,  the  former  one  of  the  most  unscrupulous,  yet 
influential,  politicians  that  was  ever  in  the  United  States  Congress,  a 
law  was  passed  giving  the  negroes  a  right  to  vote  and  disfranchising 
the  southern  whites  who  had  participated  in  the  civil  war.  Stevens 
opposed  Lincoln  in  all  of  his  policies.  In  his  argument  with  Stevens, 
Abraham  Lincoln  said:  "1  believe  that  there  is  a  physical  difference 
between  the  white  and  black  races  which  will  forever  forbid  their  living 
together  on  terms  of  political  and  social  equality.  If  such  be  attempted 
one  must  go  to  the  wall." 

"Very  well,"  said  Stevens,  "pin  the  southern  white  man  to  the 
wall !  Our  party  and  the  nation  will  then  be  safe.  The  life  of  our 
party  demands  that  the  negro  be  given  the  ballot  and  made  the  ruler  of 
the  South." 

"My  God!  Stevens,  are  you  a  man  or  a  savage?"  replied  Lincoln. 
"The  negro  has  cost  us  $5,000,000,000,  the  desolation  of  ten  great 
states,  and  rivers  of  blood.  We  can  well  afford  a  few  million  dollars 
more  to  effect  a  permanent  settlement  of  the  issue.  We  must  assimi 
late  or  expel  them. 

"I  can  conceive  of  no  greater  calamity  than  the  assimilation  of  the 
negro  into  our  social  and  political  life  as  our  equal.  A  mulatto  citizen 
ship  would  be  too  dear  a  price  to  pay  even  for  emancipation.  We  can 
never  attain  the  ideal  Union  our  fathers  dreamed  of,  with  millions  of 
an  alien,  inferior  race  among  us,  whose  assimilation  is  neither  possible 
nor  desirable.  A  nation  cannot  exist  half  white  and  half  black,  any 
more  than  it  could  exist  half  slave  and  half  free." — The  Clansman. 

At  this  point  it  will  be  well  to  recall  the  fact  that  in  1778  Virginia, 
and  in  1798  Georgia,  passed  acts  prohibiting  the  importation  of  slaves, 
Virginia  fixing  as  a  penalty  the  fine  of  1,000  pounds. 

Virginia,  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  formed  a  compact  to  support 
a  practical  system  of  emancipating  slaves  by  degrees.  This  move 
ment  was  stopped  by  the  abolitionists,  who  demanded  immediate  and 
uncompensated  freedom  of  all  slaves. 

After  the  assassination  of  Lincoln,  which  marked  the  saddest  event 
that  the  nation  ever  knew,  and  at  one  of  the  most  critical  crises,  when 
he,  above  all  men,  was  needed  to  solve  the  race  problem  of  America, 
Thaddeus  Stevens  was  not  only  instrumental  in  annulling  Lincoln's 
plans,  but  succeeded  in  enforcing  laws  directly  contrary  to  them.  Lin 
coln  had  told  Stevens  that  he  promised  to  reinstate  the  South  when  they 
laid  down  their  arms.  This  he  intended  to  do,  regardless  of  Stevens 


15 

or  anyone  else.  He  also  told  Stevens  that  he  would  colonize  the  negro. 
Stevens  replied :  "The  South  must  be  wiped  off  the  map  and  made 
submissive/' 

After  the  disfranchising  of  all  southern  whites  who  had  participated 
in  the  war  and  placing  the  ballot  in  the  hands  of  the  negroes  a  condi 
tion  existed  in  the  southern  states  the  equal  of  which  has  never  been 
recorded  in  history.  Big,  black,  burly,  bare- footed,  ragged  negroes 
with  dirty  white  collars  and  bright  red  or  yellow  neckties  sat  in  public 
offices,  and,  although  they  could  neither  read  nor  write  their  names, 
executed  the  laws  of  their  communities,  while  the  aristocratic  southern 
men,  who  had  been  their  masters  and  owners,  could  neither  command, 
instruct,  nor  vote  with  them. 

J.  S.  Pike,  who  at  that  time  was  United  States  Minister  to  Holland, 
and  who  had  been  an  abolitionist  during  the  war,  visited  the  South,  and 
afterwards  wrote  a  little  book  called  "Black  Parliament,"  in  which  he 


"Here,  then,  is  the  outcome,  the  ripe  fruit,  of  boasted  civilization  of  the 
South.  She  gradually  rose  to  wealth,  culture,  and  refinement.  Now  reduced 
and  prostrate  in  the  dust.  Overruled  by  conglomerate  ranks  of  its  own 
servile  population,  rude,  most  ignorant  democracy  that  mankind  ever  saw, 
invested  with  functions  of  government.  The  dregs  of  the  population  in 
habit  the  robes  of  their  predecessors.  Barbarism  overwhelming  civilization. 
A  wonder  and  a  shame  to  civilization/' 

W.  L.  Clowes,  a  northerner,  reporting  for  The  New  York  Times,  who 
spent  twelve  years  in  the  South  investigating  race  conditions  at  that 
time,  writes  in  "Black  America" : 

"In  North  Carolina  several  members  of  the  State  Legislature  were  unable 
to  read.  They  robbed  the  state  and  trifled  with  its  credit.  A  barroom  was 
established  in  the  capitol  building',  where  drinking  and  smoking  continued 
from  morning  till  night." 

On  account  of  the  Republican  party  being  in  power  during  the  civil 
war  and  at  its  close,  the  negroes  were  Republicans  to  a  man. 

In  Alabama  there  were  26  negroes  in  the  House  and  I  in  the  Senate. 

The  negroes  sold  their  votes  to  the  highest  bidder.  Strife  and  ill- 
feeling  was  kept  up  between  the  two  races. 

In  South  Carolina,  in  1876,  the  election  returns  for  delegates  for 
framing  a  new  state  constitution  showed  63  negroes  and  34  whites. 
The  whites  were  northern  adventurers  and  southern  renegades.  The 
constitution  drawn  up  by  this  body  was  adopted  in  1867  by  negro  voters, 
who  were  not  legally  franchised  until  March  30,  1870. 

They  exploited  the  state  for  their  own  private  interests.  Fancy 
clocks,  expensive  sofas,  and  $20  spittoons  replaced  the  old  ones.  A 
combination  restaurant  and  saloon  was  also  established  in  the  capitol. 


16 

In  this  morass  of  rottenness  the  state  expenses  amounted  to  $2,000,- 
ooo  in  1872,  while  the  annual  expenses  were  normally  $400,000. 

Decency,  intelligence,  and  property  were  subjected  to  the  domination 
of  a  black,  ignorant,  pauper  multitude.  Vice  superseded.  A  bloody 
riot  with  the  incensed  whites  occurred  in  Edgefield  county  in  January, 
1875,  m  which  lives  were  lost  on  both  sides. 

In  Georgia  the  state  debt  increased  from  $5,827,000  to  $18,183,000 
from  1868  to  1870,  and  the  state  bonds  became  almost  unmarketable. 
Ballot  boxes  were  tampered  with  and  election  returns  falsified. 

"In  Virginia,"  writes  Mr.  Robert  Stiles,  "I  appeared  in  circuit  court 
before  a  bench  on  which  sat  a  so-called  judge,  who  had  the  day  before 
been  a  clerk  in  a  village  grocery  store,  and  who  was  no  better  fitted  for 
the  dignity  and  duty  devolving  upon  him  than  any  other  negro  grocery 
boy." 

In  Mississippi,  as  Mr.  Clowes  expressed  it,  "It  was  a  fool's  paradise 
for  negroes." 

The  Louisiana  Constitutional  Convention  of  1867  was  manipulated 
to  show  45,218  white  and  84,463  colored  votes.  Only  six  white  mem 
bers  succeeded  in  obtaining  seats  in  the  Senate. 

Corruption  and  bribery  reigned  supreme. 

The  New  Orleans  Republican,  in  which  Governor  Warmoth,  a  tricky 
"carpet  bagger,"  was  principal  shareholder,  received  in  one  year  $1,140,- 
88 1  for  public  printing. 

The  negroes  became  intensely  proud  and  began  to  assert  themselves. 
This  led  to  the  organization  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan,  an  order  of  southern 
whites,  improperly  called  white  caps,  sworn  to  stamp  out  African  rule, 
and  who  caused  the  mysterious  disappearance  of  many  a  negro  and 
white  instigator  of  negro  outrages.  They  frequently  raided  and  fright 
ened  whole  communities  of  superstitious  negroes  almost  into  hysterics. 
An  incident  of  this  kind  occurred  one  night  in  a  little  town  in  southern 
Kentucky.  A  party  of  the  "Ku  Klux"  came  quietly  into  the  negro 
quarters  of  the  little  burg  about  12  o'clock,  when  every  resident  was 
sleeping  soundly,  and  after  carefully  tying  several  small  dogs  in  flour 
sacks,  dropped  them  simultaneously  down  as  many  chimneys  of  the 
negro  dwellings.  The  result  can  easily  be  imagined.  An  uproar  and 
stampede  followed,  in  which  cries  of  "De  Debbil  am  a  comin'  sho!" 
"Oh,  Lawd  a  massy !"  etc.,  were  mingled  in  ridiculous  accents.  A  few 
pistol  shots  from  the  retreating  Ku  Klux  only  added  to  the  pande 
monium. 

The  following  letter  from  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Klan, 
now  a  United  States  senatorial  clerk,  will  be  of  interest  in  this  con 
nection  : 


17 

WASHINGTON,    D.    C.,   May   6,    1908. 
C.  W.  MELICK, 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  Replying  to  yours  of  the  4th,  I  will  say  that  I  have  now 
in  advanced  preparation  a  book  giving  a  history  of  the  origin,  purposes  and 
accomplishments  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan.  Responding  to  your  questions  seri 
atim,  there  was  only  one  order  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan,  without  any  branches. 
General  Forrest,  who  was  the  Supreme  Wizard  of  the  Klan,  in  his  testi 
mony  before  the  "Joint  Commission  to  Investigate  Conditions  in  the  Insur 
rectionary  States,"  placed  the  membership  at  about  500,000.  The  Klan  was 
organized  in  April,  1867,  at  Pulaski,  Tennessee,  and  was  disbanded  by  order 
of  the  Supreme  Wizard  in  1869.  It  operated  in  nearly  all  of  the  southern 
states,  but  its  principal  field  of  action  was  in  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  Louisi 
ana,  and  South  Carolina.  The  Klan  was  originally  organized  for  pastime, 
but  having  adopted  a  peculiar  garb  and  practiced  some  spectacular  antics  that 
impressed  the  superstitious  negroes,  it  was  soon  observed  that  it  had  a  con 
trolling  effect  ov<er  the  negroes  who  were  beginning  to  go  into  excesses  under 
the  inspiration  of  mean  white  men,  and  so  the  Klan  was  early  turned  into 
somewhat  of  a  political  organization.  Under  evil  influences,  the  negro  was 
fast  rushing  upon  his  own  destruction,  for  it  would  have  soon  been  neces 
sary  to  either  annihilate  him  or  give  him  full  sway  over  southern  interests 
and  southern  people.  The  punitive  efforts  of  the  Klan  were  almost  always 
directed  at  the  white  instigator  of  negro  deviltry,  realizing  that  the  negro 
himself  was  most  tractable  and  could  be  easily  kept  within  safe  bounds  if 
his  evil  advisers  were  suppressed.  The  final  result  of  the  movement  was  to 
get  rid  of  these  white  scalawags  and  save  the  negro  from  annihilation.  The 
Ku  Klux  Klan  stood  resolutely  for  law  and  order,  and  it  was  a  necessary 
adjunct  of  civilization  then,  because  the  courts  were  inadequate  and  in  many 
places  indisposed  to  protect  the  property  interests  and  personal  rights  of  the 
people,  and  they  had  to  take  things  into  their  own  hands.  I  have  no  kind 
of  doubt  that  but  for  the  Ku  Klux  Klan  there  would  inevitably  have  been 
a  war  of  races  that  would  have  resulted  in  the  destruction  of  the  negro  race, 
and  it  would  have  been  far  more  disastrous  to  southern  property  interests 
than  even  the  civil  war,  and  my  opinion  is  that  the  Ku  Klux  Klan  was  one 
of  the  great  movements  ordained  by  Providence  along  the  ages  to  further 
civilization  and  human  progress,  and  that  when  the  final  truth  is  known 
history  will  say  that  it  did  more  for  the  negro  himself  than  anything  else 
appertaining  to  his  emancipation  from  slavery  and  ignorance. 
Very  truly  yours, 

LAPS  D.   McCoRD. 

From  a  copy  of  the  original  Prelate  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan,  which 
two  of  the  members  showed  me,  I  judge  that  its  mission  was  purely  of 
a  patriotic  nature.  The  majority  of  the  excesses  in  such  lines  were 
committed  by  unscrupulous  bands  of  night  riders,  disguised  in  the  name 
of  the  Ku  Klux,  after  that  organization  had  disbanded. 

Northern  politicians  took  advantage  of  the  situation,  and  before  every 
election  of  any  consequence  many  of  them  went  down  through  the 
South,  or  sent  their  representatives,  and  solicited  votes,  and  at  election 
time  collected  them.  Naturally,  those  who  covered  the  most  territory 
secured  the  largest  number  of  votes,  regardless  of  his  policies.  These 
electioneers  were  called  "carpet  baggers." 

From  that  time  nntil  the  present  the  negro  vote  has  been  a  disgrace 
to  civilization.  There  are  many  places  in  Maryland  and  Virginia  where 


1$ 

the  negroes  line  up  or  sit  on  a  fence  in  a  row  near  the  polls  waiting  for 
politicians  to  come  along  and  make  bids  for  their  vote.  There  are  some 
places  in  the  states  farther  south  where  they  are  kept  away  from  the 
polls  entirely. 

The  full-blooded  negro  has  little  or  no  patriotism.  They  have  no 
country  they  can  call  their  own,  and,  like  you  or  I,  or  anyone  else  under 
the  same  circumstances,  would  have  little  interest  in  government  affairs. 

They  were  frequently  made  to  think  that  when  they  voted  the  heavens 
would  open  and  send  them  a  blessing,  or  something  similar  would  hap 
pen.  Since  they  found  out  differently  they  vote  principally  the  way 
they  are  paid  for  it,  or  influenced  by  white  politicians. 

In  some  states  they  are  not  allowed  to  vote  unless  they  are  able  to 
interpret  the  names  on  the  ticket. 

The  shrewd  politicians  meet  this  difficulty  by  holding  meetings  in 
schoolhouses  and  halls  every  evening  for  a  week  or  so  previous  to  elec 
tion,  and  instructing  the  negroes  by  the  use  of  a  ballot-box  and  ticket 
prepared  similar  to  those  used  on  election  day. 

A  few  years  after  the  civil  war  Abraham  Lincoln's  picture  was  used 
on  the  ticket,  and  anyone  who  wished  to  vote  the  straight  Republican 
ticket  would  make  their  mark  on  this  picture.  When  public  sentiment 
demanded  a  more  intelligent  vote,  this  system  was  abandoned  for  sepa 
rate  party  tickets,  where  a  straight  ticket  could  be  voted  or  each  sepa 
rate  name  scratched. 

This  has  recently  been  abandoned  for  a  single  ticket,  with  all  the 
parties  included,  and  the  names  intermixed.  A  great  deal  of  instruc 
tion  or  scheming  is  therefore  required  in  order  to  obtain  an  intelligent 
negro  vote.  All  soiled  or  improperly  folded  ballots  are  also  discarded. 
Several  instances  have  been  brought  to  my  notice  where  the  political 
instructors  cut  holes  in  sheets  of  pasteboard  or  brown  paper  in  such 
a  manner  that  when  placed  directly  over  the  ticket  a  scratch  could  be 
made  through  each  hole  and  the  names  of  the  desired  persons  thus 
scratched. 

These  pasteboards  were  folded  and  distributed  among  the  negro 
voters,  who  carried  them  to  the  polls  in  their  pockets  and  used  them 
when  voting. 

I  also  know  of  one  negro,  a  Bill  Scott,  of  the  fifth  district  of  Balti 
more  county,  Maryland,  who  in  the  fall  election  of  1899  was  told  to 
swear  by  the  Bible  that  he  was  a  legal  resident  of  that  district,  and,  not 
seeming  to  understand  what  was  required,  began  to  eat  the  leaves  of 
the  Bible  on  which  he  was  to  place  his  hand.  The  Bible  was  used  in 
some  districts  at  that  time  for  swearing  in  voters.  After  such  a  display 
of  ignorance  he  was  permitted  to  cast  his  vote.  A  highly  intelligent 
and  patriotic  piece  of  business  for  United  States  citizens ! 

All  of  the  southern  states  have  adopted  laws  making  the  eligibility 
requirement  for  voting  so  rigid,  and  aimed  directly  at  the  negro,  that 


they  disqualify  the  majority  of  them.  The  substance  of  the  law  in  the 
southern  states,  as  a  whole,  differing  slightly  in  some  of  them,  is  as 
follows : 

No  person  may  be  allowed  to  vote  unless  he  can  read  and  intelligently 
interpret  a  part  of  the  Constitution;  who  himself,  or  wife,  has  not  $500  or 
n;ore;  or  unless  his  grandfather  voted  before  the  war. 

The  first  part  of  this  law  applies  equally  to  the  white  and  black — the 
educational  requirement.  The  "grandfather  clause"  and  property  re 
quirement  admits  most  of  the  whites  regardless  of  education. 

This  law  seems  unjust  to  a  Northern  or  Western  man,  but  the  South 
of  necessity  had  to  adept  some  such  means  to  control  the  negro  rabble. 
Any  sane  white  man  under  similar  conditions  would  have  used  his 
influence  to  adopt  similar  laws.  Virginia  and  Maryland  were  the  last 
states  to  pass  such  laws.  Virginia  passed  hers  in  1902,  and  Maryland 
followed  in  1908. 

A  great  many  of  the  Southern  men  whose  business  a  high  tariff 
benefits  are  Republicans  on  national  issues  and  Democrats  on  local 
issues.  Many  of  the  rice,  sugar,  and  tobacco  dealers  belong  to  this  list. 

Not  only  have  the  white  voters  of  the  Southern  states  controlled  the 
elections  ever  since  18/6  by  combining  in  the  Democratic  party,  but 
they  have  recently  adopted  that  method  in  the  Republican  party  in 
Virginia. 

On  April  8th,  1908,  the  sixth  congressional  district  of  that  state  held 
its  Republican  convention  to  elect  delegates  to  the  National  Convention 
in  Chicago. 

When  the  chairman  took  his  seat  he  said:  ''This  is  a  white  man's 
meeting,  representing  a  white  Republican  party,  and  any  statement  to 
the  contrary  is  a  lie." 

There  were  about  twenty  negroes  present,  who  repeatedly  tried  to 
gain  the  floor,  but  were  as  often  and  as  readily  silenced. 

This  is  the  first  record  of  a  Republican  meeting  south  of  the  Mason 
and  Dixon  line  in  which  negroes  were  not  permitted  to  participate. 

Occasionally  a  negro  will  become  broad-minded  enough  to  say,  as 
did  Mr.  A.  M.  Church  (colored),  of  Vicksburg,  Miss.:  "The  mass  of 
negroes  would  do  themselves  and  the  country  more  good  if  the  ballot- 
box  were  out  of  their  reach."  Many  of  them,  however,  are  among 
the  class  which  the  f  ollov/ing  represents : 

On  the  23rd  of  March.  1908,  a  party  of  colored  men  from  certain 
districts  of  the  South  visited  the  White  House  and  complained  to 
President  Roosevelt  about  ill-treatment  at  the  polls. 

They  were  not  from  Maryland  or  Virginia,  or  they  would  have  re 
ceived  fifty  cents  and  a  glass  of  whiskey  apiece  for  their  vote,  instead 
of  being  driven  from  the  polls. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

RATE  OF  INCREASE  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

The  rate  of  increase  of  the  negro  is,  as  a  whole,  less  than  that  of  the 
white,  partly  because  the  mulattoes,  quadroons  and  octoroons  seldom 
intermarry  with  full-blooded  negroes,  but  intermarry  among  themselves 
or  with  whites,  and  their  offspring  eventually  becomes  so  near  white 
that  they  are  classed  as  such. 

The  chief  cause,  however,  for  the  lesser  rate  of  increase  is  due  to 
the  fact  that,  although  their  birth  rate  is  higher,  their  death  rate  is  so 
much  higher  than  their  birth  rate  that  the  result  is  a  lower  per  cent  of 
increase. 

The  higher  death  rate  is  obviously  due  to  their  unsanitary  habits  of 
living.  When  we  see  them  living,  as  Mr.  Bond  says,  in  Chapter  VII, 
"like  hogs ! — yes,  sir,  like  hogs !"  we  wonder  that  some  of  them  live 
as  long  as  they  do.  I  know  of  whole  families  of  them  who  have  died 
of  tuberculosis  contracted  by  unsanitary  living. 

Not  only  is  this  true  of  the  full-blooded  negroes  who  colonize  in  the 
rural  swamp  districts  of  South  Carolina  and  Louisiana  and  have  be 
come  so  degraded  as  to  live  like  wild  animals,  speaking  in  South  Caro 
lina  a  dialect  composed  of  a  mixture  of  degenerate  English  and  the 
original  African  tongue,  and  in  Louisiana  a  French  yiddish,  but  in  parts 
of  Washington,  D.  C.,  there  is,  aside  from  dialect,  a  semblance  of 
similar  conditions. 

Right  in  Washington,  where  some  of  the  greatest  efforts  have  been 
made  to  educate  and  develop  the  best  that  there  is  in  the  negro,  where 
he  has  had  exceptional  educational,  religious,  and  social  opportunities, 
the  illegitimate  births  among  the  colored  population  of  that  city  were, 
in  1879,  17  &  per  cent;  in  1893,  27  per  cent,  and  in  1894,  26.46  per  cent. 
During  those  years  the  per  cent  of  illegitimate  births  among  the  whites 
of  Washington  was,  in  1879,  2.32  per  cent;  1893,  2.82  per  cent,  and 
in  1894,  2.56  per  cent. 

Our  fair  capital  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  cities  in  the  Union,  but 
its  beauty  is  confined  to  the  government  buildings,  parks,  and  Penn 
sylvania,  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts  avenues.  Go  to  Monkey  Hol 
low,  Black-and-Tan  Court,  or  any  other  negro  suburb,  or  to  the  city 
jail  any  morning,  and  you  will  have  a  different  version  of  the  national 
capital. 


21 

I  have  known  of  negro  mothers  allowing  their  babies  less  than  two 
years  old  to  go  month  after  month  without  a  bath,  sleep  in  unventilated 
rooms  containnig  ten  or  a  dozen  people,  and  for  breakfast  receive 
nothing  but  tea  or  coffee.  And  some  of  the  men  drink  whiskey,  when 
obtainable,  in  preference  to  either. 

Another  cause  of  the  higher  rate  of  increase  among  the  southern 
whites  is  that  of  northern  white  immigration  during  the  past  ten  years. 

The  government  has  expended  millions  of  dollars  during  this  time  in 
experimental  and  investigation  work  in  the  South  in  every  branch  of 
agriculture,  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  people  of  the  southern  states 
in  reclaiming  the  depleted  soil  of  abandoned  plantations. 

Northern  capital  and  northern  men  are  rapidly  developing  the  busi 
ness  interests  and  reclaiming  the  soil  of  the  South  by  modern  scientific 
methods. 

As  the  western  frontier  became  exhausted,  enterprising  immigration 
sought  these  large  tracts  of  untilled  plantation  land  left  idle  by  the 
freed  slaves. 


22 


CHAPTER  V. 
NEGRO  LABOR  IN  COMPETITION  WITH  ANGLO-SAXON  LABOR. 

One  reason  why  the  South  is  better  adapted  to  the  negro  than  the 
North,  and  the  reason  that  Booker  T.  Washington  advises  him  to  remain 
there,  is  because  of  the  more  advanced  racial  spirit  which  prevails  in 
the  South.  Prejudice  there  being  sharper  has  forced  the  negro  back 
upon  his  own  resources. 

When  he  can  no  longer  cling  to  the  skirts  of  the  white  man,  he  either 
lapses  into  worthless  idleness,  or  supports  negro  enterprises. 

As  one  negro  expressed  it :  "Forty  years  ago  the  white  man  emanci 
pated  us,  but  we  are  only  just  now  discovering  that  we  must  emancipate 
ourselves." 

On  account  of  negro  labor  being  practically  the  only  labor  of  the 
South,  negroes  are  more  readily  accepted  there  as  carpenters,  black 
smith,  etc.,  than  in  the  North,  where  white  labor  predominates.  For 
this  reason  the  average  amount  of  work  per  day  in  the  South  is  less 
than  half  what  it  is  in  the  North. 

The  negro  of  the  North,  is,  for  the  most  part,  compelled  to  take  a 
second  place  in  industry. 

Here  they  meet  the  competition  of  the  native  whites,  the  Swedes, 
Danes,  Norwegians,  Irish,  and  Germans,  who  are  all  far  more  ener 
getic,  and  generally  do  more  than  double  the  amount  of  work  of  the 
negro. 

In  the  smaller  cities,  where  the  negro  population  is  not  increasing 
rapidly,  or  in  exceptional  instances,  such  as  that  of  the  Van  Camp 
Packing  Company,  of  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  who  fitted  up  a  new  plant 
to  be  operated  entirely  by  negroes,  they  are  not  discriminated  against. 
But  in  large  cities,  where  they  exist  in  great  numbers,  a  feeling  of 
opposition  is  steadily  growing. 

In  abolition  times  the  negroes  of  northern  cities  wrere  highly  respect 
ed.  Many  of  them  were  accorded  unusual  opportunities  and  favors; 
such  as  the  better  educated  negroes  are  given  there  to-day ;  such  as 
they  found  several  years  ago  in  Germany.  In  a  few  instances  these 
negroes  became  wealthy. 

At  the  time  when  the  North  was  passionately  concerned  in  the  aboli 
tion  of  slavery,  the  color  of  the  skin  frequently  gave  the  negro  special 
advantages,  even  honors.  For  years  after  the  war  this  condition  con- 


23 

tinned.  Then  a  stream  of  immigration  of  southern  negroes  began  to 
appear,  increasing  in  numbers,  until  to-day  all  of  our  large  northern 
cities  have  negro  colonies,  usually  in  the  lowest  suburbs. 

As  the  negro  colonies  increased,  outrageous  assaults  began  to  occur. 
In  such  localities  the  northern  whites  soon  became  as  hostile  to  the 
negro  as  the  Southern  whites.  An  illustration  of  this  was  demonstrated 
in  the  mob  riot  of  Springfield,  Illinois,  August  14  to  19,  1908,  in  which 
the  jail  and  negro  settlements  were  repeatedly  stormed,  with  loss  of 
several  lives  and  thousands  of  dollars'  worth  of  property,  and  quiet  was 
only  restored  by  state  troops,  police,  and  fire  departments. 

The  riot  was  instigated  by  two  negro  assaults.  First,  a  negro,  Joe 
James,  entered,  after  night,  the  home  of  Mr.  A.  Ballard,  a  prominent 
Christian,  and  attempted  to  assault  his  eighteen-year-old  daughter.  Mr. 
Ballard,  in  defending  her,  was  stabbed  to  death  by  the  negro.  Second, 
on  August  14  a  negro  crept  into  the  home  of  Mrs.  Earl  Hallem,  dragged 
her  from  her  bed  into  her  garden,  where  he  assaulted  her  and  left  her 
unconscious. 

The  color  line  soon  began  to  be  drawn  to  a  certain  extent  by  those 
who  came  in  contact  with  the  negroes,  either  in  social  or  business  life. 

The  following  examples  amply  illustrate  this  fact : 

A  certain  electric  company  of  New  York  recently  wrote  to  the  presi 
dent  of  an  industrial  college  asking  if  he  had  a  few  good  bright  boys 
who  wanted  employment.  The  president  of  the  school  replied  that  he 
had  several,  and  among  them  two  negroes.  The  next  mail  brought  the 
following  letter:  "No  colored  boys,  however  promising,  are  wanted." 

The  manager  of  a  business  firm  in  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  said,  when 
asked  why  he  did  not  employ  negro  help :  ''It  isn't  so  much  the  color 
as  efficiency.  I  have  no  sentiment  in  the  matter.  It's  business.  The 
average  colored  man  can't  do  as  much  work  nor  do  it  as  well  as  the 
average  white  man.  The  negroes  lack  speed  and  skill." 

A  Chicago  firm  replied  to  the  same  question :  "We  have  tried  negro 
help  over  and  over  again,  hoping  to  aid  the  condition  of  negro  idleness 
in  this  vicinity.  Out  of  several  hundred  we  have  had  two  or  three 
good  negro  workers.  The  majority  of  the  rest  were  wholly  undis 
ciplined,  and  irresponsible,  and  generally  dishonest." 

From  this  we  see  thrt  it  is  not  so  much  color  discrimination  as  actual 
lack  of  efficiency  that  places  the  northern  negro  where  he  is  industrially. 

Perhaps  no  life  in  the  world  requires  as  much  brain  and  muscle  of 
all  classes  as  that  of  the  northern  cities  of  the  United  States.  In  such 
circumstances  the  negro  naturally  followed  the  lines  of  least  resistance, 
and  is  serving  the  white  population  in  the  capacity  of  porters,  waiters, 
hackmen,  etc. 


24 

In  northern  cities,  where  the  negro  population  is  large,  skilled  labor 
unions  have  begun  to  show  hostility  toward  them,  even  though  there  is 
no  rule  against  their  admission. 

Illiteracy  of  the  negro  is  discussed  on  page  40.  The  requirement, 
however,  for  passing  such  an  examination  is  ver)'  low,  especially  be 
fore  a  census  reporter,  who  is  usually  in  a  hurry.  The  requirement  is 
reading  and  writing.  Illiteracy  in  the  race,  as  a  whole,  is  gradually  de 
creasing,  but  a  large  majority  of  literates  are  found  among  the  mulat- 
tocs,  and  those  who  live  in  cities.  The  masses  of  negroes  living  in  the 
rural  districts  of  the  South  are  for  the  most  part  illiterate. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

AMALGAMATION  is  GRADUALLY  INCREASING. 

The  most  serious  handicap  which  our  present  generation  of  the  Anglo- 
African  has  to  carry,  and  one  seldom  thought  of  by  those  who  are 
working  for  his  salvation,  is  his  lack  of  family  antecedents.  He  be 
longs  to  the  innominate ;  to  the  grand  army  of  cyphers.  In  these  days 
of  egoism,  when  every  man  who  is  proud  of  himself  is  studying  to  trace 
his  lineage,  the  black  man  is  absolutely  without  recourse.  This  dis 
ability  was  felt  even  in  slave  times,  before  the  war,  and  at  that  time 
high-class  servitors,  with  ambition  and  ideas  of  their  own  personal 
consequence,  were  fain  to  call  themselves  by  the  names  of  their 
masters,  especially  when  to  the  manor  born ;  and  they  ranked  in  impor 
tance  among  their  fellows,  as  well  as  among  the  white  people  them 
selves,  according  to  the  social  status  of  their  households.  In  these 
crucial  days,  when  credentials  are  indispensable  and  references  are  re 
quired,  where  or  how  can  the  unfortunate  black  man  come  in?  This 
is  the  misery  of  it,  to  him,  and  the  most  devoted  of  his  friends  cannot 
help  him  establish  a  pedigree. 

In  continental  United  States  about  one- fourth  of  the  negro  popula 
tion  are  of  mixed  blood,  while  in  Cuba  one-half  and  in  Porto  Rico 
five-sixths  have  been  so  classed. 

The  census  statistics  and  observation  all  through  the  southern  states 
reveal  most  emphatically  the  fact  that  amalgamation  is  being  effected 
to  a  considerable  degree. 

One  cannot  go  down  the  streets  of  Washington,  D.  C.,  without  seeing 
on  almost  every  street  car  and  almost  every  street  mulattoes,  quadroons, 
and  octoroons ;  it  is  frequently  hard  to  tell  which.  They  themselves  do 
not  always  know. 

The  same  is  true  of  New  Orleans  and  most  all  the  other  large  cities 
of  the  South. 

When  children  are  born  to  mulattoes  in  this  country,  especially  in  the 
northern  states,  they  are  usually  a  few  shades  lighter  than  their  parents. 
White  blood  predominates  in  the  United  States,  and  the  tendency  is 
toward  a  lighter  color  than  that  of  the  native  African.  So,  without 
amalgamation  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  the  negro  of  North  America 
may  in  time  acquire  a  considerably  lighter  color. 

The  increase  in  mulatto  to  total  population  is  shown  in  the  accom 
panying  table : 


26 


CONTINENTAL 
UNITED  STATES 

1890 

1870 

1860 

1850 

PERCENT  MULATTO  TO 
TOTAL  NEGRO 
POPULATION 

Negro  population  
Mulatto                   

7,474,040 
1,132,060 

4,880,009 
548,049 

4,441,830 
588,363 

3,638,808 
405,751 

1900 
~& 

1890 
15.2~ 

1870 
12 

1860 
13 

1850 

~TTT 

The  census  reporters  experienced  so  much  difficulty  in  trying  to  dis 
tinguish  the  mulattoes,  quadroons,  octoroons,  etc.,  from  whites  that  in 
1900  they  gave  it  up  in  discouragement.  It  can,  therefore,  be  only 
estimated  that  one-fourth  of  the  negro  population  of  the  country  bear 
evidence  of  an  admixture  of  blood.  This  admixture  was  found  by  the 
enumerators  to  be  more  prevalent  in  sections  where  the  proportion  of 
negroes  to  whites  is  smallest,  and  least  prevalent  where  the  proportion 
of  negroes  to  whites  is  largest. 

As  one  passes  from  the  great  cotton-growing  states  between  South 
Carolina  and  Texas  toward  the  north,  the  proportion  of  mulattoes 
among  the  negroes  as  a  rule  increases. 


Rank   of   States   and   Territories   in   order   of   increasing   per   cent 
mulatto  in  total  negro  population  1890,  1870,  1860  and  1850: 


STATE  OR  TERRITORY 
HAVING  AT  I^EAST  1,000 
NEGROES  IN  1850 

Rank  in  Order  of  Increasing  Per  Cent 
Mulatto  in  Total  Negro  Population 

Per  Ceat 
Negro  in 
Total  Popu 
lation,   1890 

1890 

1870 

1860 

1850 

South  Carolina 

1 

1 

1 

1     

59.9 

Georgia 

2 

2  

3 

3.. 

2 

2 

46.7 

Alabama 

3 

4 

448 

Mississippi 

4 

8 

4 

3                ....57.6 

Florida  

5  

12.  ... 

6 

5.. 

11 

::::.:::  6  

5  

42.4  
16.9  

Delaware  

6 

Arkansas 

7 

7 

7 

12 

27.4 

Texas 

..    8  
.     9 

10 

10 

11 

21.8 

North  Carolina  
New  Jersey 

5 

6 

8  

34.7  

10 

11 

9 

15 

.     3.3 

Maryland 

11 

13 

12 

10 

20.7 

I/ouisiana  
Tennessee 

.12 

16 

8 

9  

50.0  

13 

4 

13 

7 

24.4.. 

Virginia 

14 

14 

15 

14 

38.4 

Kentucky  
New  York 

15 

19 

17 

13  

14.4  

1.2.... 

16 

9 

14 

17 

17 

15 

16 

16 

5.6 

Pennsylvania  
Connecticut 

.18  
19 

18 

21 

.   21  

2.1  

22 

18 

19 

1.6  
32.8  
2.1  

District  of  Columbia  
Rhode  Island  

.20  

.21... 

17  
20 

22  
19 

22     
...18'"  

Illinois 

.22 

21 

24 

25"' 

1.5  

23 

24 

25 

26"' 

2.1 

Massachusetts  
Ohio 

.24  

25 

20 

...20"'  

1.0  

25 

23 

23 

27  

2.4  

Michigan 

26 

27  
26 

27  
26 

24  
23 

0.7  
0  2 

27 

27 

Before  the  Civil  War  the  field  hands  in  the  cotton-growing  regions  of 
the  South  associated  with  the  whites  much  less  intimately  than  the  house 
servants,  and  the  latter  class  much  more  frequently  than  the  former 
included  a  perceptible  strain  of  white  blood.  Away  from  the  cotton- 
growing  area  the  difference  was  less,  but  in  the  border  states  no  small 
proportion  of  the  slaves  in  the  cities,  many  of  them  belonging  to  the 
class  of  household  slaves,  were  infused  with  white  blood. 

No  legal  intermarriages  between  the  races  existed  during  slavery 
times,  and  yet  there  was  a  widespread  admixture  of  blood.  Concu 
binage  was  a  common  practice.  A  mulatto  was  worth  more  money 
than  a  full-blood  negro,  because  he  was  more  intelligent.  He  could 
learn  more  readily  and  do  more  complicated  work.  He  was  always 
sought  for  at  the  slave  sales  by  traders,  and  consequently  as  many 
mulatto  children  as  possible  were  raised. 

They  were  at  that  time  infused  with  some  of  the  best  blood  of  the 
South,  hence  the  intelligence  of  some  of  the  foremost  of  their  race. 
It  is  to  this  custom  that  the  mulattoes  owe  their  origin. 

The  mulattoes  thus  raised  have  for  the  most  part  been  educated  by 
their  white  fathers.  Wilberforce  College,  the  oldest  negro  institution 
of  learning  in  the  United  States,  founded  in  1856,  was  largely  supported 
in  slavery  times  by  southern  white  men  who  were  fathers  of  mulatto 
children. 

Those  practices  of  slavery  times  have  not  ceased  yet.  Intermar 
riage  between  the  two  races  is  forbidden  by  law  in  all  of  the  southern 
states,  and  also  the  following  northern  and  western  states :  Delaware, 
Indiana,  Nebraska,  Missouri,  Oklahoma,  Colorado,  Utah,  Idaho,  Ari 
zona,  California  and  Oregon.  In  all  of  the  remaining  northern  and 
western  states  intermarriage  is  lawful.  Such  laws  have  meant  little 
or  nothing  so  far  as  they  affect  the  problem  of  amalgamation. 

In  Delaware,  Maryland  and  the  Virginias  there  are  not  a  few  white 
men  living  with  mulatto  women,  chiefly  in  rural  districts,  and  raising 
families  unmolested.  Occasionally,  though  very  rarely,  white  women 
thus  make  homes  for  negro  men.  The  most  pitiful  case  of  this  kind 
that  has  ever  been  brought  to  my  attention  is  in  Harford  county,  Mary 
land.  A  white  girl  was  rescued  from  drowning  by  a  full-blooded  negro, 
and  the  latter  took  advantage  of  her  gratitude  at  the  time  and  obtained 
her  consent  to  live  with  him.  He  was  a  day  laborer  a  part  of  the  time 
and  fished  or  did  nothing  the  remainder  of  the  time.  They  now  have 
fourteen  children,  varying  in  color  from  light  yellow  to  dark  brown, 
with  a  varying  combination  of  white  and  negro  features.  They  live  in 
a  two-room  house  eight  miles  from  the  nearest  railroad  station,  and 
about  a  mile  from  the  nearest  public  road.  She  never  goes  to  town  or 
to  call  on  a  neighbor,  and  when  anyone  calls  at  the  house  she  either 


28 

remains  out  of  sight  or  draws  a  bonnet  down  over  her  eyes.  Her  folks 
".ave  frequently  asked  her  to  return  to  them,  but  she  says  she  doesn't 
want  to  leave  the  children. 

While  such  cases  of  white  women  living  with  negro  men  are  the 
extreme  exception,  the  negro  women  as  a  rule  exert  every  possible 
influence  to  induce  white  men  to  cohabit  with  them. 

I  have  known  them  to  make  repeated  advances  to  business  men  and 
college  boys  with  such  intentions.  A  college  student  of  a  southern 
college  who  fed  some  horses  morning  and  evening  for  my  neighbor 
noticed  the  negro  servant  girl  come  out  to  the  barn  almost  every  time 
he  went  there  for  over  two  months.  He  told  me  he  would  shoot  her 
rather  than  touch  her. 

Many  men,  however,  who  have  been  raised  in  the  South  or  near  In 
dian  reservations  in  the  West  have  become  so  accustomed  to  practices 
that  have  existed  in  those  sections  ever  since  the  advent  of  the  negro 
to  our  country,  or  the  associations  of  the  cowboys  with  Indian  women, 
that  they  do  not  regard  it  as  do  the  people  of  other  sections — barbarous. 

In  the  states  south  of  the  Virginias  a  custom  called  ''miscegenation/' 
a  system  of  concubinage,  is  very  prevalent  in  the  cities.  Many  white 
men,  sometimes  prominent  in  business,  have  mulatto  as  well  as  white 
families.  The  following  statement  by  Rev.  J.  A.  Rice,  of  the  Court 
Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Montgomery,  Alabama,  repre 
sents  an  average  condition  in  the  majority  of  the  large  cities  of  the 
south.  Dr.  Rice  made  this  statement  in  his  pulpit  about  a  year  ago : 

"There  are  in  the  city  of  Montgomery  about  four  hundred  negro  women 
supported  by  white  men." 

This  does  not  represent  a  condition  of  mere  vice.  Most  of  these 
women  are  comfortably  provided  for  and  have  families  of  children. 

Almost  invariably  the  negro  concubines  of  white  men  are  received 
in  the  negro  churches  and  among  the  negroes  generally  with  honor. 
They  are  the  most  intelligent  of  negro  women,  have  the  best  homes, 
and  more  money  to  contribute  to  charitable  purposes.  They  are  proud 
of  their  light-colored  children,  and  generally  consider  themselves  more 
fortunate  than  their  relatives  who  have  black  children  and  less  money 
to  spend. 

The  better  classes  in  several  states  have  begun  to  organize  against  the 
present  practice  of  concubinage.  At  Francisville,  Louisiana,  in  May, 
1907,  a  meeting  was  called  to  organize  against  what  one  of  the  speakers, 
Mr.  WicklirTe,  termed  the  "yellow  peril"  of  the  South.  He  saivl.  in 
part: 

"Everyone  familiar  with  conditions  in  our  midst  knows  that  the  enormous 
increase  in  persons  of  mixed  blood  is  due  to  men  of  the  white  race  openly 
keeping  negro  women  as  concubines." 


29 

About  this  time  another  similar  meeting  was  held  at  Vicksburg,  Mis 
sissippi,  and  anti-miscegenation  leagues  formed  at  each  place. 

The  class  of  white  men  who  live  with  or  retain  negro  concubines  at 
the  present  time  are  as  a  whole  of  a  lower  class  than  those  of  slavery 
times,  or  even  five  years  ago.  As  the  practice  is  abandoned  by  the 
better  classes,  the  mulatto  offspring  are  naturally  of  a  lower  sort. 

The  home  life  of  the  masses  of  negroes  is  so  primitive  that  in  their 
crowded  condition  privacy  and  decency  are  almost  unknown.  The 
more  comely  and  intelligent  negro  girls  are  therefore  a  prey  not  only 
for  white  men,  but,  like  all  of  their  sex,  are  more  of  a  prey  for  men 
of  their  own  race. 

From  such  circumstances  and  examples  it  is  no  wonder  that  the 
negroes  as  soon  as  they  were  free  and  placed  on  a  social  equality  began 
to  assault  white  women. 

The  only  difference  now  between  the  relations  of  the  men  of  both 
races  to  the  women  of  their  opposite  race  is  that  in  one  practice,  "mis 
cegenation,"  harmony  exists,  and  there  is  more  enthusiasm  shown  on 
the  part  of  the  negro  women  than  the  white  men ;  while  the  other  prac 
tice,  assault  and  rape,  embodies  the  most  loathsome  crime.  Although 
no  excuse  can  be  offered  for  concubinage  in  any  form,  the  concubines 
are  treated  like  queens  as  compared  with  the  barbarous,  dastardly, 
beastly,  fiendish  manner  in  which  the  negro  men  assault  pure,  innocent 
white  girls  at  almost  every  opportunity.  The  southern  white  farmers 
of  many  rural  districts  leave  their  houses  with  apprehension  in  the 
morning,  and  thank  Providence  when  they  return  from  their  work  in 
the  evening  to  find  all  well  with  the  women  folks  of  their  home.  Many 
of  them  either  carry  revolvers  or  keep  a  shotgun  hanging  over  the  door. 

In  New  Orleans  and  vicinity  the  Frenchmen  and  negro  women  have 
introduced  the  so-called  creole  negro  class  (French  negroes),  which 
constitutes  a  majority  of  the  negro  population  of  that  city.  Besides 
English,  they  speak  a  French  dialect.  From  these  two  classes  the  large 
majority  of  prisoners  of  the  jails  and  penitentiary  are  drawn.  These 
Frenchmen  have  for  the  most  part  only  common  names.  Those  hav 
ing  long  names  similar  to  that  of  Helie  de  Sagan,  Boni  de  Castellane, 
Alfonso  Emanuel  Bernard,  Gaston  de  Luines  d'Ailly,  Due  de  Pic- 
quigny,  etc.,  frequently  marry  American  girls  who  have  inherited  more 
money  than  brains. 

If  these  girls  could  see  their  future  relatives  in  the  creole  role  in 
New  Orleans  they  might  think  twice  before  marrying  such  relics  of 
royalty. 

The  Mayor  of  New  Orleans  recently  said: 

"If  it  were  not  for  the  negroes  and  Creoles  we  officers  would  have  nothing 
to  do ;  we  would  be  out  of  a  job." 


30 

It  has  become  proverbial  that  New  Orleans  practices  the  Ten  Com 
mandments  with  the  "nots"  omitted. 

It  is  a  common  occurrence  there  for  an  officer  to  shoot  a  negro  for 
resisting  arrest.  I  once  saw  this  done  in  St.  Louis.  A  negro  merely 
saw  a  policeman  coming  and  ran  down  an  alley.  The  policeman  told 
him  to  halt,  and,  as  he  continued  to  run,  the  policeman  shot  him. 

A  young  mulatto,  speaking  on  the  subject  recently,  said: 

"They  have  given  us  their  blood,  and  now  they  resent  our  response  to  the 
same  ambitions  that  they  have.  They  have  given  us  fighting  blood  and 
expect  us  not  to  struggle." 

While  many  of  the  mulattoes  hold  themselves  aloof  from  the  black 
negroes,  marry  only  among  themselves,  and  in  many  cities  through  the 
North  and  South  have  separate  churches,  yet  as  a  whole  they  do  not 
care  to  associate  with  the  whites,  but  rather  form  an  intermediate  class. 
This  attitude  is  due  to  the  fact  that  they  are  ostracised  from  white 
society  if  even  a  trace  of  negro  blood  is  perceptible. 

The  most  remarkable  instance  of  this  kind  on  record  is  that  of  Miss 
Cecelia  Johnson,  who,  in  1906,  was  a  leader  in  her  class  in  the  Chicago 
University,  a  member  of  the  Pi  Delta  Phi  Society  and  president  of  the 
Englewood  House,  an  exclusive  girls'  club.  When  it  became  known 
that  she  possessed  negro  blood  she  was  shunned  by  most  of  her  former 
white  friends. 

A  few  years  ago  a  dark-complected,  black-eyed  girl  graduated 
from  Vassar  College,  and  by  merest  incident  it  was  discovered  at  com 
mencement  that  she  was  part  negro. 

Judge  Robert  H.  Terrell,  of  the  subdistrict  court,  District  of  Colum 
bia,  and  his  wife,  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  Washington,  contain 
almost  an  imperceptible  inkling  of  negro  blood.  While  on  a  recent  tour 
through  Virginia  I  saw  three  white  children  coming  from  a  negro  school 
with  colored  children.  I  afterwards  saw  their  parents,  and  could  only 
detect  a  trace  of  negro  blood  in  their  father.  Their  mother,  althoug;h 
an  octoroon,  would  never  be  suspicioned  as  other  than  white.  Their 
children,  however,  although  as  white  as  Caucasians,  were  compelled  to 
attend  the  negro  school. 

And  so  I  might  enumerate  hundreds  of  similar  cases  if  space  would 
permit. 

This  class  of  people  are  placed  in  the  most  critical  social  strata 
imaginable — neither  black  nor  white,  and  yet  both. 

Like  Booker  T.  Washington  and  Professor  DuBois,  they  cling 
to  the  negro  side  because  of  the  prejudice  that  white  people  have  forced 
upon  them.  In  case  of  race  riot,  however,  the  mulattoes,  siding  with 
negroes,  lending  keener  wits  and  higher  intelligence,  cause  more  trouble. 

Occasionally  some  of  the  octoroons,  or  those  containing  still  less 
negro  blood,  "go  over  to  white,"  or  "cross  the  line,"  and  pass  for  white 


31 

people,  but  they  dare  not  openly  associate  with  their  colored  relatives. 

In  such  cases  the  negro  relatives  suppress  the  facts  with  apparent 
glee,  as  though  the  negro  thus  got  even  with  the  dominant  white  man. 

Some  of  the  mulattoes  "cross  the  line"  by  declaring  themselves  Mex 
ican,  Spanish,  French  or  Armenian.  The  Creole  negroes  of  Louisiana, 
and,  in  fact,  most  of  the  mulattoes,  have  little  difficulty  in  thus  passing 
unchallenged  among  the  white  people,  where,  as  negroes,  they  would 
be  instantly  ostracised.  No  one  can  estimate  the  number  who  have  thus 
"gone  over  to  white,"  but  wherever  there  is  an  advantage  to  be  gained 
in  a  business  or  social  way  the  practice  continues.  Not  long  ago  an 
octoroon  of  New  York,  who  holds  a  prominent  political  appointment 
under  the  state  government,  entered  a  hotel  in  Baltimore,  and,  as  the 
negro  porter  took  his  suit  case,  he  stared  at  him  and  then  said :  "Hello, 
Bob,  let  me  carry  your  satchel ;  I  won't  give  you  away."  While  at  din 
ner  in  a  hotel  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  a  few  days  ago,  I  mentioned  the 
fact  that  that  was  the  day  on  which  Senator  Foraker  was  to  make  his 
speech  in  defense  of  the  negro  soldiers  of  Brownsville.  A  dark- 
complected  gentleman  sitting  at  my  right  looked  uneasy,  but  said 
nothing.  A  gentleman  from  Alabama,  sitting  at  the  same  table,  ex 
claimed  :  "Foraker  is  a  fool  and  ought  to  be  hung !  He  is  a  nigger  in 
a  white  skin !"  I  afterwards  learned  that  the  dark-complected  man 
at  my  right  was  an  octoroon. 

In  this  unpleasant,  almost  tragic,  state  of  existence  mulattoes  would 
probably  succumb  to  prejudice-feelings  were  it  not  for  the  care-free, 
light-heartedness  inherited  from  their  negro  ancestors. 

The  average  white  man  is  worried  almost  desperate  upon  loss  of 
position  or  decline  in  business,  while  the  average  negro  without  a  cent 
in  his  possession,  and  not  knowing  where  his  next  meal  is  to  come  from, 
will  join  his  comrades  in  a  hearty  laugh  and  jig-dance  on  any  street 
corner  or  cross  road.  As  Ray  Stannard  Baker  says :  "It  is  this  ele 
ment  of  light-heartedness,  indeed,  that  accounts  in  no  small  degree  for 
the  survival  of  the  negro  in  this  country." 

While  an  admixture  of  white  blood  has  proved  advantageous  to  the 
negro,  it  is  naturally  a  detriment  to  the  white  race.  As  near  as  can  be 
estimated,  about  28  per  cent  of  the  negroes  of  the  United  States  have 
white  blood  in  their  veins.  Among  these  we  find  the  more  intelligent 
class  of  negroes,  foremost  among  whom  are  Booker  T.  Washington, 
Dr.  DuBois,  Frederick  Douglass,  Charles  W.  Chesnutt,  William  Stan 
ley  Wraithwaite,  H.  O.  Tanner,  Judge  Terrell  and  his  wife.  Messrs. 
Chestnutt  and  Wraithwaite  are  the  foremost  literary  men,  and  Mr. 
Tanner  the  foremost  painter  of  his  race.  Mrs.  Terrell  is  a  member  of 
the  school  board  of  Washington,  D.  C. 

Professor  Keane  says :  "No  full-blooded  negro  has  ever  distin 
guished  himself." 


32 

Thus  far  I  have  spoken  only  of  the  negro  in  general.  Let  us  now 
consider  the  educated  class  and  one  of  the  sources  from  which  the 
country  looks  for  his  improvement. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

"If  we  work  upon  marble,  it  will  perish;  if  we  work  upon  brass,  time  will 
efface  it;  if  we  rear  temples,  they  will  crumble  into  dust;  but  if  we  work 
upon  immortal  minds,  we  engrave  on  those  tablets  something  that  will 
brighten  to  all  eternity." — Daniel  Webster. 

THE:  TUSKEGEE  INSTITUTE,  AND  NEGRO  EDUCATION  IN  THE  UNITED 

STATES. 

In  his  first  message  to  the  first  Congress,  Washington  included  this 
paragraph : 

"Knowledge  is  in  every  country  the  surest  basis  of  public  happiness,  in 
one  in  which  the  measures  of  government  receive  their  impressions  so  im 
mediately  from  the  sense  of  the  community  as  in  ours,  it  is  proportionately 
essential." 

That  distinguished  French  writer,  Monseigneur  Dupenloup,  beauti 
fully  says: 

"That  work  of  the  educator  bears  a  likeness  to  the  work  of  the  Creator. 
If  he  does  not  create  from  nothingness,  he  draws  from  slumber  and  lethargy 
the  benumbed  faculties,  he  gives  life  and  movement  and  action  to  an  exist 
ence  yet  imperfect.  In  this  light,  an  intellectual,  moral  and  religious  educa 
tion  is  the  highest  possible  human  work.  It  is  the  continuation  of  the  highest 
and  noblest  work  of  divinity,  the  creation  of  souls." 

On  July  4th,  1881,  Booker  Taliaferro  Washington,  mulatto,  who 
had  been  born  in  slavery,  and  whose  first  name  was  given  as  a  nickname 
on  account  of  his  fondness  for  books,  founded  the  Normal  Industrial 
Institute,  of  Tuskegee,  Alabama.  Booker  Washington  graduated 
from  the  Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute,  for  colored  per 
sons,  at  Hampton,  Virginia,  in  1875  5  received  his  A.  M.  at  Harvard, 
1896,  and  LL.D.  at  Dartmouth,  in  1901. 

After  graduating  at  Hampton  he  taught  in  that  institution  until  he 
founded  the  institute  at  Tuskegee  and  became  its  principal.  Since  then 
he  has  written  "Up  From  Slavery,"  "Sowing  and  Reaping,"  "Future 
of  American  Negro,"  "Character  Building,"  "Story  of  My  Life," 
"Working  With  Hands,"  "Tuskegee  and  Its  People,"  and  a  few  later 
books. 


33 

In  speaking  of  work  at  Tuskegee,  Mr.  Washington  says : 

"It  is  comparatively  easy  to  build  up  wornout  soil  and  make  it  pro 
ductive.  It  is  infinitely  harder  to  change  a  state  of  mind.  To  change  in 
grained  habits  and  customs  of  a  community  or  a  people  is  a  task  requiring 
time  and  patience.  Before  the  school  at  Tuskegee  was  started  I  spent  a 
month  traveling  about  the  country  getting  acquainted  with  the  people.  What 
I  discovered,  discouraging  as  it  appeared  at  the  time,  was  after  all  what 
might  have  been  expected.  Some  of  the  people  I  met  were  living  practically 
in  the  same  places  where  they  or  their  fathers  or  mothers  had  formerly 
been  slaves.  The  change  which  freedom  had  brought  to  them,  important 
as  it  was  for  them  potentially,  had  made  very  little  practical  difference  in 
their  lives.  Their  methods  of  work,  their  customs  and  habits  of  thought 
had  remained  to  all  intents  and  purposes  what  they  had  been  before  emanci 
pation.  In  some  cases  where  they  had  used  their  freedom  to  get  something 
better  the  results  were  often  at  once  ludicrous  and  pathetic.  In  the  planta 
tion  districts  I  found  large  families,  including  the  visitors,  when  any  ap 
peared,  living  and  sleeping  in  a  single  room.  I  found  them  living  on  fat 
pork  and  cornbread,  and  yet  not  infrequently  I  discovered  in  these  cabins 
sewing  machines  which  no  one  knew  how  to  use,  which  had  cost  as  much 
as  $60-00,  or  showy  clocks  which  had  cost  as  much  as  $10.00  or  $12.00,  but 
which  never  told  the  time.  I  remember  a  cabin  where  there  was  but  one 
fork  on  the  table  for  the  use  of  five  members  of  the  family  and  myself, 
while  in  the  opposite  corner  was  an  organ  for  which  the  family  was  paying 
$60.00  in  monthly  installments.  The  truth  that  forced  itself  upon  me  was 
that  these  people  needed  not  only  book  learning,  but  knowledge  of  how  to 
live;  they  needed  to  know  how  to  cultivate  the  soil,  to  husband  their  re 
sources,  to  buy  land  and  build  houses,  and  make  the  most  of  their  oppor 
tunities. 

"The  same  thing  was  true  of  students  who  applied  for  entrance  at  the 
school.  Many  had  themselves  been  teachers.  Others  had  picked  up  various 
scraps  of  learning  here  and  there,  of  which  they  were,  of  course,  very  proud. 
Some  had  studied  many  books.  But  their  knowledge  was,  in  many  cases, 
regarded  as  a  toy  or  an  ornament. 

"That  is  to  say,  they  perceived  only  a  slight  connection  between  education 
[.r;d  work.  Education  was  rather  a  device  for  escaping  work.  Among  the 
institutions  in  which  some  had  been  trained  a  feeling  prevailed  that  it  was 
beneath  the  dignity  of  an  institution  of  learning  to  give  time  and  attention 
to  the  industries.  I  remember  cases  where  students  who  were  thinking 
of  entering  the  school  at  Tuskegee  were  warned  that  it  would  disgrace  them 
to  enter  a  'working  school,'  or  a  'school  for  poor  boys  and  girls.' 

"During  the  first  two  or  three  years  of  the  school  I  received  constant  re 
quests  from  parents,  and  from  the  students  themselves,  that  only  book  studi.es 
be  given,  and  there  were  not  a  few  students  who,  if  they  did  work,  preferred 
not  to  be  seen  working. 

"It  was  not  long  before  the  school  acquired  a  small  tract  of  land.  The 
first  live  stock  of  which  it  became  possessed  was  an  old  blind  mule,  the  gift 
of  a  white  man  living  in  the  neighborhood.  This  represented  the  capital  of 
the  school. 

"At  the  close  of  the  school  year,  in  May,  1905,  it  owned  2,000  acres  of  land 
and  83  buildings,  large  and  small,  used  as  dwellings,  dormitories,  class 
rooms,  shops  and  barns,  which,  together  with  the  equipment,  live  stock, 
stock  in  trade  and  other  personal  property,  were  valued  at  $831,895.32.  This 
does  not  include  22,000  acres  of  public  land  remaining  unsold  from  the 
25,000  granted  by  Congress,  valued  at  $135,000,  nor  the  endowment  fund, 
which  amounted  January  i,  1906,  to  $1,275,664." 


34 

In  his  report  on  the  financial  condition  of  the  school  for  the  year 
ending  May  31,  1907,  Mr.  Washington  says: 

"Since  my  last  annual  report,  $256,154.39  have  been  added  to  the  endow 
ment  fund,  increasing  it  to  $1,494,021.64. 

"The  value  of  the  school  property  as  represented  in  buildings,  land,  equip 
ment,  etc.,  not  counting  endowment,  is  now  placed  at  $917,237.60. 

"The  largest  single  gift  that  has  come  to  us  during  the  year  is  that  of 
$231,072.00,  left  as  a  bequest  by  the  late  Mr.  Albert  Wilcox,  of  New  York 
city.  The  amount  has  been  added  to  the  endowment  fund. 

"During  the  year  1904-5  there  were  enrolled  in  the  regular  normal  and 
industrial  departments  1,504  students — 1,000  young  men  and  504  young 
women — an  average  attendance  of  1,224. 

"In  1906  a  negro  farmers'  newspaper  was  established  at  Tuskegee  and  has 
a  wide  circulation  among  the  negroes  of  the  south.  This  is  probably  the 
first  local  newspaper  devoting  itself  exclusively  to  the  affairs  of  a  single 
locality  ever  printed  and  published  in  the  interest  of  a  negro  farming 
community. 

"It  aims  to  take  account  of  every  effort  for  progress^ and  improvement 
made  by  an  individual  or  a  community  in  the  county.  The  building  of  a 
new  school  house  in  a  community  or  the  purchase  of  a  mule  by  some  indi 
vidual  in  that  community  is  an  item  of  general  interest. 

"Six  thousand  students  have  come  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time  under  the 
influence  of  the  institution  during  the  past  twenty-five  years.  So  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  learn,  not  one  of  the  graduates  has  been  convicted  of  a 
crime,  and  less  than  10  per  cent  of  these  are  failures  in  the  occupations 
which  they  have  adopted. — Twenty-five  Years  of  Tuskegee. 

"A  large  number  of  race  interests  that  for  one  reason  or  another  seem 
to  center  at  Tuskegee  Institute  add  considerably  to  the  expense  of  conduct 
ing  the  institution. 

"Close  examination  will  show,  I  think,  that  in  a  large  sense  these  outside 
movements  are  educational  and  have  a  race-building  value.  Among  them 
are  the  Tuskegee  Negro  Conference,  with  its  numerous  branches;  the  Na 
tional  Negro  Business  League,  with  over  400  branches,  and  the  Colored 
Department  of  the  Alabama  State  Fair,  as  well  as  other  racial  matters,  which 
make  necessary  an  enormous  correspondence." 

The  average  colored  man  sees  money  only  once  a  year — when  he 
sells  his  cotton.  Booker  T.  Washington  advised  raising  chickens  and 
vegetables,  and,  having  something  to  sell,  so  as  to  get  used  to  handling 
money  all  the  year,  and  then  not  to  spend  it  for  candy,  red-wheeled  bug 
gies,  organs,  accordions,  banjos,  and  cheap  sewing  machines. 

Booker  Washington  further  states  in  "Negro  Self-Help" : 

"A  pup  gets  his  eyes  open  in  nine  days,  but  it  took  us  niggahs  thirty-nine 
years  from  'mancipation  to  get  our  eyes  open." 

"The  colored  people  support  the  liquor  dispensaries.  We  say,  'The  Lord 
blesses  these  white  people,'  while  it  is  really  the  colored  people  who  bless 
them  by  buying  whiskey  of  them.  The  white  man  will  live  in  a  big  house 
with  ten  rooms,  well  furnished,  while  the  colored  man  lives  in  the  bare,  one- 
roomed  cabin,  all  because  the  colored  man  spends  his  nickles,  dimes,  and 
quarters  buying  beer  and  whiskey  from  the  white  man.  But  that  is  not  the 
right  kind  of  a  blessing." 


35 

Mr.  Scott  Bond,  a  negro  of  Crittenden,  Arkansas,  is  quoted  in  the 
same  pamphlet  in  an  address  before  a  Tuskegee  Negro  Conference  as 

follows : 

"Give  a  horse  clover  and  a  warm  stable,  and  you  can't  drive  that  animal 
away.  Treat  your  sons  properly,  and  they'll  behave  as  well  as  a  horse. 
Too  many  negroes  live  like  hogs !  Yes,  sir,  like  hogs !  The  girls  don't  know 
how  to  sweep  a  room;  and  yet  they  want  to  ride  in  first-class  cars,  with 
clean  people.  God  forbid!" 

Besides  the  Tuskegee  Institute,  which  is  the  largest  and  most  impor 
tant  negro  school  in  the  world,  there  are  at  present,  according  to  the 
Government  Bureau  of  Education,  155  other  industrial  schools  in  the 
United  States  for  negroes  (besides  254  high  schools  and  secondary 
schools). 

We  have  spent  about  $800,000,000  on  negro  education  since  the  war. 

The  people  of  Alabama  in  framing  their  laws  have  been  especially 
scrupulous  in  giving  the  colored  race  these  advantages,  and  during  the 
last  thirty  years  the  southern  states  have  expended  $115,954,299  for 
negro  education. 

The  South  is  at  present  expending  $4,000,000  annually  to  educate 
the  negro. 

Among  their  most  important  industrial  schools  are  the  following: 
Alabama  Agricultural  and  Mechanic  Arts  College  for  Negroes,  at  Nor 
mal,  Alabama ;  Delaware  State  College  for  Colored  Students,  at  Dover ; 
Kentucky  Normal  and  Industrial  Institute  for  Colored  Persons,  Frank 
fort,  Kentucky ;  Princess  Anne  Academy  for  Colored  Persons,  Princess 
Anne,  Maryland;  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College  for  the 
Colored  Race,  Greensboro,  N.  C. ;  the  Colored  Normal  Industrial,  Agri 
cultural  and  Mechanical  College  of  South  Carolina,  Orangeburg,  S.  C. ; 
Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute,  Hampton,  Virginia,  and 
West  Virginia  Colored  Institute,  at  Institute,  W.  Va. 

In  general  the  course  of  instruction  given  at  these  institutions  is  as 
follows : 

English  Language. 

Mathematics. 

Political  Economy. 

Domestic  Economy — sewing,  cooking,  household  management. 

Drawing. 

Bookkeeping. 

Music. 

Carpenter  and  Blacksmithing. 

Bricklaying. 

Dairying. 

Harness-making. 

Shoemaking. 

Bible  Training. 


36 

President  Janson  of  the  Delaware  College  gives  a  course  which  he 
calls  "Mental  and  Moral  Science." 

During  the  school  year  of  1905-6  there  were  7,663  negro  boys  and 
13,959  negro  girls  studying  industrial  branches  in  these  schools. 

In  the  secondary  and  higher  schools  for  colored  people  there  were 
1,730  boys  and  177  girls  studying  professional  courses. 

Exclusive  of  the  industrial,  there  were  1,429  male  teachers  and  2,648 
female  teachers  in  the  public  high  and  secondary  higher  schools  for 
colored  people. 

Including  those  attending  public  schools,  there  were  in  the  Conti 
nental  United  States  1,096,734  negroes  attending  school  during  the 
census  year  of  1900. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

STATISTICS  OF  THE;  NEGRO  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

We  will  now  turn  to  the  latest  census  statistics,  Bulletin  8,  of  the 
United  States  Census  Bureau,  Washington,  D.  C.,  and  see  how  free 
dom,  educational  advantages,  and  association  with  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  has  affected  the  negro. 


Occupation 

1900 

1890 

Increase 

1890  to  1900 

Per 
Cent 

Continental  U.  S.(  all  occupations  

3,992,337 

3,073,164 

919,173 

29.9 

Agricultural  laborers  
Farmers,  planters  and  overseers 

1,344,125 
757  822 

1,106,728 
590,666 

237,397 
167,156 

21.5 
28.3 

Laborers  (not  specified)  • 

545,935 

349,002 

196,933 

56.4 

Servants  and  waiters  
lyaunderers  and  laundresses  

465,734 
220,104 

•  401,215 
152,684 

64,519 
66,420 

16.1 
43.2 

Draymen,  hackmen  and  teamsters  
Steam  railroad  employes 

67,585 
55,327 

43,963 
47,548 

23,622 
7,779 

53.7 
16.4 

Miners  and  quarrymen  

36,561 

19,007 

17,554 

92.4 

Saw  and  planing  niill  employes  
Porters  and  helpers 

33,266 
28  977 

17,276 
11,694 

15,990 
17,283 

92.6 
147.8 

Teachers  and  college  instructors  
Carpenters  and  joiners 

21,267 
21,113 

15,100 
22,581 

6,167 
1,468 

40.8 
*6.5 

Barbers  and  hairdressers 

18  942 

17  480 

2,462 

14.1 

Nurses  and  midwives  
Clergymen 

19,431 
15  582 

5,213 
12  159 

14,218 
3,369 

272.7 
27.7 

Tobacco  and  cigar  factory  

15,349 

15,004 

0,345 

2.3 

Hostlers  

Masons 

14,496 
14  386 

10,500 
9  760 

3,996 
4,626 

38.1 
47.4 

Dressmakers  

12,569 

7,586 

4,983 

65.7 

Iron  and  steel  workers     

12,327 

6,579 

5,748 

87.4 

Seamstresses 

11  537 

11  846 

309 

X2.6 

Janitors  and  saxons  
Housekeepers  and  stewards 

11,536 
10596 

5,945 
0  248 

5,591 
1,348 

94.0 
14.6 

Fishermen  and  oystermen  

10,427 

10,071 

356 

3.5 

Blacksmiths  

10,100 

.      10,988 

888 

X8.1 

x  decrease 

A  glance  at  this  table  shows  us  that  the  negro  is  pre-eminently  a 
servant,  and  the  increase  in  porters,  147.8  per  cent,  janitors.  94.0  per 
cent,  general  laborers  56.0  per  cent,  and  nurses  272.0  per  cent,  between 
1890  and  1900,  as  against  the  smaller  per  cent  of  increase  in  other  lines 
of  work,  indicates  progress  along  manual  labor  rather  than  intellectual 
lines. 

The  majority  of  those  who  attend  the  previously  mentioned  schools 
and  colleges  obtain  more  or  less  knowledge,  which,  when  rightly  applied, 
is  of  considerable  service  to  them.  The  few  who  really  become  edu- 


38 

cated  are  materially  improved  by  it.  Unfortunately,  however,  the 
masses  of  the  negroes  of  the  South  have  hardly  been  influenced  by 
education. 

A  large  per  cent  of  almost  every  other  nationality  that  comes  to 
America  are  thrifty,  and  thousands  of  instances  could  be  cited  where 
they  have  come  here  with  less  than  a  hundred  dollars,  and  are  to-day 
either  millionaires  or  at  least  wealthy. 

Nothing  of  this  kind  can  be  said  of  the  negro. 

In  the  entire  negro  population  of  the  Continental  United  States, 
8,333,994,  there  are  only  757,822  farmers,  planters  and  overseers  com 
bined.  Of  the  remaining  7,576,172,  only  3,234,515  are  engaged  in 
gainful  occupations.  This  leaves  4,341,657  unemployed.  Of  these 
there  are  2,418,413  children,  and  261,403  negroes  over  65  years  old. 
Eliminating  these,  we  have  1,661,841  unemployed.  Of  those  who  have 
employment,  1,159,900  are  unemployed  a  part  of  each  year. 

Where  the  negro  does  engage  in  farming  for  himself  he  is  pre 
eminently  a  small  farmer,  cultivating  50  acres  where  the  white  farmer 
has  160. 

There  is  some  evidence  of  a  slight  separation  between  the  two 
races  in  the  South  since  1890,  the  center  of  population  for  southern 
negroes  being  79  miles  from  that  for  southern  whites  in  1890  and  94 
miles  in  1900. 

The  rate  of  increase  of  negroes  declined  steadily  through  the  nine 
teenth  century. 

In  the  southern  states  the  increase  of  the  negroes  in  each  decade 
between  1800  and  1840  was  more  rapid  than  that  of  the  whites ;  since 
1840  it  has  been  less  rapid.  Between  1860  and  1900  southern  negroes 
increased  93.4  per  cent  and  southern  whites  134.9  per  cent.  In  the 
country  districts  of  the  South,  excluding  the  population  of  the  242  cities 
which  had  at  least  2,500  inhabitants,  both  in  1890  and  in  1900,  the 
negroes  increased,  1890  to  1900,  16.4  per  cent;  in  the  242  southern 
cities,  as  a  whole,  they  increased  21.7  per  cent.  Their  increase  in  the 
country  districts  was  about  two-thirds  as  rapid  as  that  of  the  whites 
in  the  same  area ;  their  increase  in  southern  cities  was  nearly  five- 
sixths  as  fast  as  that  of  the  whites  in  the  same  cities. 

In  the  largest  southern  cities,  that  is  the  five  having  at  least  100,000 
inhabitants,  in  1900,  the  negro  population  increased  25.8  per  cent,  1890 
to  1900;  the  white  population  of  the  same  cities  increased  only  20.8  per 
cent.  This  is  the  only  group  of  southern  cities  in  which  the  rate  of 
increase  of  negro  population  exceeded  that  of  the  whites.  In  the  38 
cities  of  this  class  in  Continental  United  States  the  per  cent  of  increase, 
1890  to  1900,  was  38  for  negroes  and  32.7  for  whites. 


39 


Illiteracy  among  negroes  is  about  seven  times  as  common  as  among 
whites,  and  this  ratio  between  the  races  has  not  altered  materially  in 
the  last  ten  years. 

Illiteracy  among  southern  negroes  is  more  than  four  times  that  among 
southern  whites,  and  much  more  prevalent  in  rural  districts  than  in 
cities.  Thus  in  the  southern  states  nearly  one-half  (49.8  per  cent)  of 
the  negroes  at  least  10  years  of  age  living  outside  cities  having  25,000 
or  more  inhabitants  are  illiterate.  In  the  cities,  however,  less  than  one- 
thircl  (31.5  per  cent)  of  the  negroes  are  illiterate.  Here  they  come  in 
closer  contact  with  the  whites. 

The  per  cent  of  negro  children  who  attend  high  schools  in  cities, 
especially  northern  cities,  is  much  larger  than  it  is  in  rural  districts 
of  the  south. 

The  prevalence  of  illiteracy  in  the  two  races  is  shown  in  the  follow 
ing  tables : 


Race,  Contjiiental  U.  8. 

1900 

1890 

Number  Illiterate 

Percent  Illiterate 

1900 

1890 

1900 

1890 

White  Population  
Negro                      

51,250,918 
6,415,891 

12,020,539 
5,664,975 

41,931,074 
5,328,972 

9,456,368 
4,751,763 

3,200,746 
2,853,194 

1,401,273 
2,717,606 

3,212,574 
3,042,668 

1,412,983 
2,882,216 

6.2 
44.5 

11.7 
48.0 

7.7 
57.1 

14.9 
60.7 

South  Atlantic  and  South 
Central  Divisions 

White  Population 

Negro                       

When  we  consider  that  there  are  included  in  these  tables  the  thou 
sands  of  illiterate  foreign  whites  who  migrate  to  the  United  States 
every  year,  and  bear  in  mind  that  there  are  as  many  schools  for  negroes 
as  for  whites  in  the  south  in  proportion  to  their  population,  and  that  the 
schools  of  the  northern  and  western  states  admit  the  negro  on  an  equal 
basis  with  the  whites,  we  can  readily  see  that  to  maintain  their  standard 
the  whites  have  a  much  greater  proportion  of  illiteracy  to  overcome 
than  do  the  negroes. 

The  following  table  will  show  the  per  cent  of  increase  of  criminals  in 
the  United  States  for  both  races : 


Prisoners  in  County  Jails,  1890 


Native  White 


Total 


9,794 


Percent 


literate 


92.9 


Illiterate 


4.4 


40 


Prisoners  in  County  Jails,  1890 


Negro 


Total 

Percent 

I4terate% 

Illiterate  % 

Pure 

Mixed 

5,497 

.078 

62.1 

31.4 

4,539 

958 

To  avoid  obtaining  an  erroneous  idea  from  this  table  it  is  necessary 
to  note  distinction  between  mere  literacy  and  education. 
Educated  negroes  are  the  least  criminal. 


Prisoners  in  Penitentiaries 


White 


Negro 


1900 
1904 

23,095 
86,833 

.03% 
.108% 

14,267 
23,698 

.2% 
.263% 

10,884 

3,383 

Percent  Colored  among 
prisoners  committed  during  1904 

Percent  Colored  in 
general  population 

Continental  U  S 

16  4 

12.1 

North  Atlantic  Division  

6.9  

1.9  

South  Atlantic  Division  .  . 

64.4 

35.8  

13  4 

2  1 

South  Central  Division  

60.2       

30.3  

8.3 

5.3  

These  figures  would  be  changed  materially  if  the  large  number  of 
negro  criminals  of  the  southern  states  were  included  who  never  reach 
a  prison,  but  who  are  lynched  by  mob. 

Three-tenths  of  the  negroes  are  found  in  the  southern  South  Atlantic 
states,  nearly  three-tenths  more  in  the  eastern  South  Central  and  nearly 
two-tenths  in  the  western  South  Central.  These  three  regions  contain 
over  three- fourths  (77.7  per  cent)  of  the  entire  negro  population  of 
the  United  States.  The  Western  states  and  the  New  England  states 
have  the  smallest  number,  only  i  per  cent  of  the  negroes  being  found 
in  these  regions,  which  contain  12.8  per  cent  of  the  total  population. 


41 


1900 

State 

Native 
White 

Negro 

Total  In 
cluding 
Foreign 
Whites 

Maine  
New  Hampshire  
Vermont  
Massachusetts  

692,226 
410.791 
342,771 
2,769,764 

1,319 
662 

826 
31,974 

694,466 
411,588 
243,641 
2,805,346 

Rhode  Island  
Connecticut  
New  York- 

419,050 
892,424 
7,156,881 

9,092 
15,226 
90,232 

428,556 
908,420 
7,268  294 

New  Jersey  
Pennsylvania... 

1,812,317 
6,141,664 

69,844 
156,845 

1,883,669 
6,302,315 

Maryland  
Delaware  

952,424 
153,977 

335,064 
30,697 

1,188,044 
184,735 

Virginia.. 

1,192,855 

660,722 

1,854  184 

West  Virginia  
North  Carnlina  . 

915,233 
1,263,603 

43,499 
624,469 

958,800 
1,893,810 

South  Carolina  
Georgia  

557,807 
1,181,294 

782,321 
1,034,813 

1,340,316 
2,216,331 

Florida  
Alabama  
Mississippi 

279,333 
1,001,152 
641,200 

230,730 
827,307 
907,630 

528,542 
1,828,497 
1,551,270 

Kentucky  
Tennessee  
Ohio..  .. 

1,862,309 
1,540,186 
4  060  204 

284,706 
480,243 
96  901 

2,107,174 
2,020,616 
4,157  545 

Indiana  
Illinois  
Michigan  

2,458,502 
4,734,873 
2,398,563 

57,505 
85,078 
15,816 

2,516,462 
4,821.550 
2,420,982 

Wisconsin  
Minnesota  
Iowa. 

2,057,911 
1,737,036 
2  218,667 

2,542 
4,959 
12  693 

2,069,042 
1,751,394 
2  231  853 

Missouri. 

2,944,843 

161,234 

3,106,665 

Arkansas 

944  580 

336  856 

1  313  564 

lyouisiana  

729,612 

650,840 

1,381,625 

Texas  

2,426,669 

620,722 

3,048,710 

Oklahoma  

367,524 

18,831 

398,331 

Kansas  

1,416,319 

52,003 

1,470,495 

Nebraska 

1  056  526 

6  269 

1  066  300 

South  Dakota  
North  Dakota  

380,714 
311,712 

465 

286 

401,570 
319,146 

Montana  
Idaho..  . 

226,283 
154,495 

1,523 
?93 

243,329 
161,772 

Wyoming  
Utah  
Colorado  
New  Mexico  
Arizona  

89,051 
272,465 
529,046 
180,207 
92,903 

940 
672 
8,570 
1,610 

1,848 

92,531 
276,749 
539,700 
195,310 
222,931 

Nevada 

35  405 

134 

42  335 

California  
Oregon  

1,402,727 
394,582 

11,045 
1,105 

1,485,053 
413,536 

Washington 

496  304 

2,514 

518  103 

Alaska  

30,493 

166 

63,592 

More  than  three-tenths  of  the  entire  negro  population  of  the  country 
are  living  in  the  three  adjoining  states  of  Georgia,  Alabama,  and  Mis 
sissippi.  These,  together  with  the  adjacent  Atlantic  coast  states  of 
Virginia  and  North  and  South  Carolina,  and  the  two  gulf  states  of 
Louisiana  and  Texas,  are  the  only  states  each  having  over  half  a  million 
negroes  in  1900.  Taken  together,  these  eight  states  contain  nearly 
seven-tenths  of  all  of  the  negroes  in  the  country.  The  states  with  the 
smallest  r. umber  of  negroes  ?re,  as  a  rule,  those  at  the  greatest  distance 
from  these  states.  Thus  there  are  nineteen  of  the  fifty  states  and 


42 


territories  which  have  less  than  10,000  negroes  each,  and  contain  to 
gether  less  than  two  two-hundredths  of  the  negro  population  of  the 
United  States,  although  having  more  than  one-eighth  of  the  total 
population. 

There  are  55  counties  in  the  United  States  in  each  of  which  at  least 
three- fourths  of  the  population  are  negroes;  19  in  Mississippi,  n  in 
Alabama,  8  in  Louisiana,  5  in  Arkansas,  5  in  Georgia,  4  in  South  Caro 
lina,  2.  in  Florida,  and  I  in  Virginia.  This  shows  clearly  that  the  great 
region  of  predominant  negro  population  lies  along  the  lower  Missis 
sippi,  where  29  of  these  55  counties  are  situated. 

In  the  north  and  west  the  negro  is  almost  as  pre-eminently  a  denizen 
of  cities  as  in  the  south  he  is  a  denizen  of  country  districts.  In  the 
north  and  west  seven-tenths  of  the  negroes  and  only  half  the  whites  live 
in  cities  having  at  least  2,500  inhabitants.  The  difference  is  most 
marked  in  cities  having  at  least  100,000  inhabitants.  Such  cities  in 
clude  less  than  one-fourth  of  the  whites  and  more  than  one-third  of 
the  negroes. 

Cities  of  the  United  States  having  over  30,000  negroes : 

Cities  of  the  United  States  having  over  30,000  negroes. 

Washington 86,702 

Baltimore 79,258 

New  Orleans 77,714 

Philadelphia 62,613 

New  York 60,666 

Memphis 49,9*0 

Louisville 39,^39 

Atlanta 35,727 

St.  Louis 35,5i6 

Richmond 32,230 

Chicago 30,150 

Nashville 30,044 

The  following  table  shows  the  increase  of  negroes  and  of  whites  in 
the  38  cities  of  the  United  States  having  at  least  100,000  inhabitants 
in  1900  and  in  the  rest  of  the  country : 


Continental 
United  States 
38  Cities 

Population 

Increase  of  Popula 
tion.  1890  to  1900 

1900 

1890 

Number 

Per   Cent 

Negro  

668,254 
13  .507,327 

484,346 
10.181,905 

183,908 
3,325,422 

38.0 
32.7 

White         

Remainder  of 
Country 

Negro 8.165,740 

White 53.301,869 


7,004,330 
M4.919.353 


1,161,410 
8,382,516 


16.6 
18.7 


43 

These  figures  show  that  in  the  large  cities  of  the  country,  as  a  whole, 
negroes  are  increasing  at  a  somewhat  higher  rate  than  whites.  This 
is  the  more  noteworthy,  both  because  in  the  country,  as  a  whole,  and 
in  the  country  outside  these  cities,  the  increase  of  negroes  is  somewhat 
slower  than  that  of  whites,  and,  also,  because  33  of  these  38  large  cities 
lie  outside  of  the  southern  states,  in  which  nearly  nine-tenths  of  the 
negroes  live,  so  that  the  rapid  increase  of  their  negro  population  must 
involve,  in  many  cases,  long-distance  migration.  This  has  also  to  a 
great  extent  been  due  to  the  importation  of  negro  laborers  by  large 
manufacturing  firms  of  the  northern  cities.  When  discharged  by  such 
firms  they  remain  in  the  north.  The  following  is  an  example  of  negro 
migration:  On  August  16,  1893,  Rev.  J.  F.  Davidson  (colored)  ar 
rived  in  Tacoma,  Washington,  from  New  Orleans  with  25  negroes  for 
the  purpose  of  colonization. 

The  negro  race  has  a  much  larger  proportion  of  children  than  the 
white  race.  Their  death  rate  is  also  much  higher,  as  shown  by  the 
following  table : 


Registration  Area,  1900 


Race 

Population 

Number 
of  Deaths 

Death  Rate 

White  
Negro  . 

27,555,800 
1  180  546 

475,640 
35.710 

17.3 
30'2 

In  Continental  United  States,  4,394  negro  children  under  15  years 
of  age,  over  five-sixths  of  them  girls,  were  reported  as  married.  Ex 
cluding  the  children  under  15  years  of  age,  there  were,  in  1900,  53  per 
cent  of  the  negro  population  of  the  United  States  reported  married  and 
55.9  per  cent  of  the  white  population  reported  married. 

From  these  reliable  statistics  it  is  obvious  that — 

1.  The  occupation  of  the  negro  has  varied  only  in  a  small  degree  dur 
ing  the  past  forty  years. 

2.  Their  birth  rate  and  death  rate  is  higher. 

3.  Illiteracy  is  gradually  being  overcome  by  the  more  progressive. 

4.  Amalgamation  is  gradually  taking  place  between  the  two  races. 

5.  The  percentage  of  crimes  among  negroes  continues  to  increase. 

6.  The  center  of  the  negro  population  remains  in  the  South,  and  over 
nine-tenths  of  the  colored  population  of  the  United  States  has  remained 
in  the  southern  states. 

Upon  careful  consideration  one  could  only  expect  these  natural  re 
sults. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
OCCUPATION  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NEGRO. 

I.  The  negro  as  a  race  is  naturally  indolent.  They  inherited  this 
trait,  and  we  will  not  criticise  them  for  being  so.  We  will  merely 
comment  on  it  in  connection  with  other  characteristics.  In  the  north 
ern  and  western  states,  where  the  percentage  of  negroes  is  small,  they 
are  more  progressive  than  in  the  southern  states.  The  negroes  of  the 
latter  seem  to  prefer  picking  up  coal  along  a  railroad  track,  fishing, 
picking  berries,  or  hunting  all  day  for  a  rabbit  or  'coon  than  to  work 
steadily  at  any  occupation. 

From  all  I  have  been  able  to  observe,  comparatively  few  negroes 
work  steadily  the  year  around.  The  statistics  show  that  of  all  those 
who  have  employment,  there  are  on  an  average  1,159,900  unemployed  a 
part  of  each  year. 

Permanent  progress  is  only  found  in  continued  industry  or  employ 
ment,  or  in  thrift  and  practice  of  moral  obligations.  This  seems  to  be 
most  lacking  ki  the  negro  race. 

Many  of  the  southern  whites  employ  negroes  simply  because  they 
can  get  no  one  else.  Their  efficiency  as  day  laborers  is  far  below  that 
of  the  whites,  and  far  below  that  of  slavery  times.  People  of  every 
southern  state  tell  me  that  there  is  little  choice  between  leaving  their 
work  undone  and  hiring  average  negro  help.  A  few  personal  illustra 
tions  may  serve  to  explain  this  statement.  I  employed  at  various  times 
within  a  year  eight  different  negro  women  and  seven  negro  men.  In 
every  instance  their  work  had  to  be  looked  over  and  in  many  cases  done 
over  after  them.  The  women  would  burn  clothes  when  ironing,  leave 
corners  dirty  when  scrubbing,  or  cleaning,  waste  more  in  the  kitchen 
than  their  wages  amounted  to,  accomplish  about  half  as  much  as  the 
average  white  person,  and  leave  a  pungent  odor  on  every  piece  of  cloth 
ing  or  material  in  the  kitchen  that  would  absorb  it. 

They  seemed  to  regard  their  work  in  a  subconscious  state  of  mind 
most  of  the  time. 

When  I  left  the  men  to  saw  wood  they  usually  began  about  10 
o'clock  A.  M.,  and,  although  the  weather  was  mild,  being  in  October, 
they  always  built  a  fire  by  which  to  keep  warm  while  sawing.  When 
ever  any  of  their  friends  came  along  they  stopped  sawing,  lit  cigarettes, 
and  talked  for  hours  at  a  time.  When  pay-day  came  they  were  disap- 


TYPICAL   SOUTHERN   NEGRO 


45 

pointed  with  the  wages  promised,  saying  that  they  received  more  at  a 
previous  place.  I  inquired  at  the  place  they  mentioned,  and  the  gentle 
man  said  he  did  not  give  them  as  much. 

I  know  of  several  society  women  of  Washington,  D.  C.,  who  were 
in  the  habit  of  sending  their  negro  girls  ov.t  on  the  streets  with  their 
babies  in  their  buggies  until  they  discovered  them  in  a  dingy  negro  shanty 
being  amused  by  a  dozen  or  more  shiny-faced  youngsters  or  having  no 
company  at  all.  Some  of  them  were  left  in  such  places  for  hours,  when 
their  parents  thought  they  were  enjoying  fresh  air. 

The  negro  girls  of  one  community  in  which  we  lived  had  a  habit  of 
carrying  home  every  night  a  supply  of  food  for  their  families  or  friends. 
They  could  not  be  induced  to  remain  over  night  at  the  place  where  they 
worked,  however  comfortable  the  quarters  prepared  for  them.  They 
flocked  to  a  settlement  where  they  lived  in  poorly  furnished,  dirty 
houses,  and  from  two  to  fourteen  in  a  room.  In  this  way  they  spread 
gossip  and  disease,  and  lived  from  the  white  people's  tables.  This  way 
of  living  is  common  among  negroes  in  all  of  the  southern  states. 

In  communities  where  negro  house  servants  are  employed  few  mod 
ern  conveniences  for  facilitating  work  are  to  be  found.  The  negroes 
use  a  scrub  board  and  scrub  brush,  because  they  never  heard  of  a 
washing  machine  or  mop.  They  knead  dough  with  their  fists,  for  they 
never  used  a  bread  mixer.  The  white  ladies  who  employ  them  do  not 
realize  the  need  of  improved  facilities,  because  they  don't  do  the  work 
themselves.  Consequently,  the  most  obsolete  methods  prevail  where 
negro  servants  are  employed  exclusively.  In  other  words,  such  people 
live  in  large,  beautiful  houses  devoid  of  most  of  the  conveniences  of 
life. 

A  well-known  colonel  of  Richmond,  Virginia,  recently  learned  that 
his  negro  servant  was  in  the  habit  of  carrying  a  plate  of  choice  victuals 
up  to  her  room  every  morning  for  her  husband,  who  had  no  occupation 
other  than  to  come  in  through  the  back  door  at  that  time,  an  early  hour 
in  the  morning,  before  the  family  was  up. 

The  colonel  accordingly  prepared  a  plate  of  pine  tar,  raw  cornmeal 
and  molasses,  and  with  it  met  his  servant  carrying  the  usual  plate  of 
breakfast  upstairs  to  her  husband.  He  said:  "Sally,  I'll  take  it  up 
this  morning,"  and  took  it  from  her.  He  then  set  it  away,  sent  her 
downstairs,  and  took  the  mixture  he  had  prepared  into  the  room  where 
her  husband  was  waiting.  The  negro  looked  at  him  and  said :  "Don't 
believe  I'm  hungry  this  morning,  boss."  The  colonel  pulled  out  a  re 
volver,  and,  pointing  it  at  him,  replied:  "Eat  every  bit  of  it,  or  I'll 
buttonhole  you."  He  ate  it  without  further  protest,  after  which  the 
colonel  gave  him  a  whipping  with  a  little  rawhide,  kicked  him  out,  and 
advised  him  never  to  return. 


46 

A  president  of  a  well-known  southern  university  was  paying  his 
butcher  bill  at  the  end  of  a  certain  month  in  1905,  and  noticed  a  charge 
of  porterhouse  steak  in  several  places  on  the  bill.  Being  unable  to 
recall  having  purchased  any  such  steak  during  that  month,  he  asked 
his  colored  servant  about  it.  The  latter  replied :  "Oh,  that  was  for  my 
wife  at  home;  she  can't  eat  anything  but  porterhouse;  her  teeth  are 
poor." 

A  negro  deliveryman  last  September  spilled  three  gallons  of  kero 
sene  which  I  had  ordered,  and,  after  paying  for  the  entire  bill,  I  noticed 
the  empty  can.  He  promised  to  bring  the  kerosene  next  day,  so  I  al 
lowed  him  to  keep  the  money.  He  put  the  money  in  his  pocket,  brought 
the  kerosene  the  next  day,  made  out  another  bill,  and  turned  in  both  as 
unpaid.  At  the  end  of  the  month  we  were  charged  up  with  the  entire 
six  gallons  on  those  two  dates.  His  proprietor  had  never  heard  of  the 
circumstance  until  I  explained  it. 

The  negro  does  not  seem  to  be  altogether  responsible  for  his  deeds. 
His  head  is  undeveloped  in  the  forehead  where  brain  capacity  is  indi 
cated,  and  strongly  developed  in  the  sensory  points  indicating  lust 
passion. 

The  inherited  instincts  of  sensuality  and  stealing  are  so  pronounced 
in  negroes  that  they  are  for  the  most  part  very  religious,  and  at  the 
same  time  frequently  find  the  neighboring  chicken  roosts  and  water 
melon  patches  after  night. 

Rev.  Dr.  Tucker  said  at  the  American  Church  Congress : 

"I  have  known  negroes  to  steal  from  each  other  in  the  midst  of  prayer- 
meeting,  and  rob  hen  roosts  on  the  way  home." 

Sensuality  seems  to  go  hand  in  hand  with  religious  superstition  in 
the  negro. 

I  have  heard  negroes  trying  to  persuade  others  to  accept  religion,  and 
a  few  minutes  afterward  swear  in  the  most  vile  terms  imaginable. 

I  witnessed  a  recent  negro  revival  meeting  in  which  the  stovepipe  was 
knocked  down  by  the  commotion  of  the  shouting,  jumping  participants. 
The  minister  said :  "Pick  it  up,  Broder  Jones,  de  Lawd  won't  let  it 
burn  yo."  The  brother  negro  addressed  slowly  picked  the  stovepipe  up 
and  dropped  it  a  great  deal  quicker,  exclaiming:  "De  hell  he  woi't!" 

Dr.  Shufeldt  says:  "At  southern  negro  camp-meetings  unbridled 
lust  is  a  common  practice." 

It  is  a  pity  that  more  of  this  general  class  of  negroes  do  not  attend 
one  of  the  industrial  schools,  or  practice  Booker  T.  Washington's 
teachings. 

As  Mr.  Washington  says,  their  efficiency  is  frequently  enhanced  by 
the  whiskey  habit.  When  wages  are  high  they  need  only  work  half  as 
long  to  obtain  enough  spending  money  as  when  wages  are  low.  Since 


47 

many  of  them  require  little  more  than  that  amount,  high  wages  in  such 
instances  are  a  detriment.  Drunkenness  has  been  very  prevalent 
among  the  southern  negroes,  and  it  was  not  uncommon  before  local 
option  prevailed  to  see  them  half  drunk  while  working. 

There  are  still  a  few  out-of-the-way  places  in  local  option  districts 
where  men  may  sneak  away  and  obtain  whiskey,  but  these  are  van 
ishing. 

The  individual,  race,  or  nation  is  respected  as  it  becomes  self-respect 
ing,  and  its  advancement  is  assured  when  an  impulse  to  become  self- 
respecting  is  awakened.  This  impulse  has  not  been  very  forcibly  dem 
onstrated  among  the  negro  race,  as  a  whole,  by  the  statistics  or  obser 
vation. 

Many  negroes  have  been  employed  in  responsible  positions,  but  com 
paratively  few  have  retained  them  with  any  degree  of  success.  In  the 
various  government  departments  I  know  of  twelve  negroes  who  hold 
positions  as  messengers  and  clerks.  Some  of  them  have  been  school 
teachers,  and  all  have  attended  a  high  school  or  university.  Not  one 
of  them  can  be  depended  upon  to  construct  a  correct  sentence.  They 
frequently  do  their  work  correctly,  but  whenever  it  involves  much 
thinking  it  has  to  be  looked  over  by  others  before  being  filed. 

There  are  at  present  thirty-eight  negroes  on  the  police  force  in 
Washington,  D.  C. 

I  have  also  known  negro  policemen  in  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Omaha, 
Lincoln,  and  Denver.  They  are,  on  the  whole,  less  active  and  cour 
ageous  than  the  white  police.  They  will  arrest  a  boy  or  try  to  main 
tain  order  under  ordinary  circumstances,  but  in  case  of  emergency,  or 
real  danger,  they  will  avoid  it,  and  allow  an  armed  white  man  to  escape 
every  time  rather  than  face  his  pistol.  They  render  the  best  service 
among  the  negro  districts  of  Washington,  St.  Louis,  or  any  other  city, 
for  they  understand  their  own  race  better. 

Negroes  were  never  known  to  rob  a  railroad  train  or  commit  a  daring 
assault.  Their  crime  usually  consists  of  snatching  a  purse  from  or 
assaulting  a  lady. 


48 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  BOOKER  T.  WASHINGTON  SHOULD  EXTEND  TO 

LIBERIA. 

Among  the  1,666,799  people  of  mixed  blood  there  is  only  one 
Booker  T.  Washington.  Several  others  have  risen  to  some  degree  of 
fame,  for  which  they  deserve  credit,  but  none  of  them  have  ever  ap 
proached  him  in  genius,  skill,  or  practical  knowledge.  This  he  has 
inherited  from  his  white  father.  Compared  to  some  of  the  presidents 
of  our  leading  universities,  such  as  Charles  Eliot  of  Harvard,  Wood- 
row  Wilson  of  Princeton,  J.  G.  Schurman  of  Cornell,  Cyrus  Northrop 
of  Minnesota,  E.  Benjamin  Andrews  of  Nebraska,  and  David  Starr 
Jordon  of  Leland  Stanford,  he  is  at  the  foot  of  the  list. 

He  is,  however,  an  exception  to  his  race.  He  established  and  main 
tains  the  best  negro  school  in  the  world.  Unfortunately,  he  cannot 
reach  the  masses  of  his  people.  Great  men  may  be  picked  from  almost 
every  race.  An  example  of  this  was  illustrated  by  Mr.  V.  K.  Welling 
ton  Koo,  a  Chinese  student  of  Columbia  University,  who  on  February 
28,  1908,  debated  with  the  Columbia  team  against  Cornell  and  was 
instrumental  in  winning  the  debate. 

Mr.  Washington  is  shrewd  enough  to  employ  as  instructors  in  his 
school  only  those  who  have  a  large  proportion  of  white  blood.  His 
secretary,  Emmett  J.  Scott ;  treasurer.  Warren  Logan,  and  other  mem 
bers  of  the  faculty  possess  apparently  only  a  trace  of  negro  blood. 
These  men  Mr.  Washington  has  selected  from  the  best  of  the  negro 
race  in  America,  and  they  are  doing  all  in  their  power  to  uplift  the 
remainder  of  their  race.  In  their  best  efforts,  however,  they  are  ob 
viously  far  below  the  standard  of  the  whites  in  education,  as  in  other 
things.  I  will  give  two  examples  to  illustrate  this  fact. 

At  the  Nebraska  State  University,  where  I  attended  from  1900  to 
1904, 1  became  acquainted  with  a  negro  who  recited  in  one  of  my  classes 
three  days  of  the  week  for  one  semister.  He  was  one  of  the  most  po 
lite  boys  I  ever  met,  and  was  highly  respected.  But  he  failed  in  many 
of  his  examinations,  and  was  a  poor  student  in  every  branch  of  work. 
He  went  to  Tuskegee  and  taught  there  for  a  time  and  with  apparent 
success.  In  answer  to  my  inquiry  regarding  his  work,  Mr.  Wash 
ington  wrote:  "Mr.  -  ,  of  Nebraska,  did  very  creditable  work  in 

our  English  department." 


49 

At  the  Kansas  State  Agricultural  College,  where  I  was  instructing 
in  1905  and  1906,  I  was  obliged  to  flunk  a  colored  boy  who  simply 
couldn't  grasp  enough  of  the  subject  to  get  a  passing  mark.  Three 
months  after  this  examination  he  had  charge  of  a  branch  of  the  same 
work  at  Tuskegee  Institute.  These  boys,  although  below  the  average 
white  student,  are  capable  of  teaching  the  average  of  their  race  as  much 
as  the  latter  are  capable  of  learning,  and  we  will  not  discredit  the  good 
work  they  are  doing. 

Booker  T.  Washington,  as  the  leader  of  his  race,  has  more  influence 
upon  the  negroes  than  any  other  man.  The  educated  class  of  his  race 
in  the  United  States  look  to  him  for  advice  on  all  matters  of  importance. 
In  almost  every  respect  his  advice  and  instruction  is  of  a  high  order. 
On  one  topic,  however,  he  differs  from  many  other  students  of  the  race 
question.  He  tells  them :  "We  are  here  to  stay ;  we  are  not  going  to 
colonize  in  Cuba,  Liberia,  or  any  place  else,  but  we'll  stay  right  here." 

Mr.  Washington's  work  is  one  of  noble  aims  and  should  not  be 
limited  to  the  United  States.  A  branch  of  it  should  be  established  in 
Liberia. 

He  could  induce  hundreds  of  his  graduates  and  those  of  other  negro 
schools  to  go  over  there  and  teach  their  relatives  who  have  never  had 
the  advantages  of  civilization. 

Henry  M.  Stanley  says  there  is  space  enough  in  one  section  of  the 
Upper  Congo  basin  to  locate  double  the  number  of  negroes  of  the 
United  States,  without  disturbing  a  single  tribe  of  the  aborigines  now 
inhabiting  it. 

George  W.  Williams,  an  educated  mulatto,  has  written  a  very  com 
mendable  history  of  the  negro,  in  which  he  states :  "The  negroes  with 
whom  the  slavers  were  supplied  represent  the  dangerous,  the  destitute, 
the  diseased  classes  of  African  society.  Pathologically  he  is  weak, 
sickly,  and  short-lived.  His  legs  are  slender  almost  to  calfless;  the 
head  is  developed  in  the  direction  of  passion,  while  the  whole  form  is 
destitute  of  symmetry.  He  spends  his  days  in  sloth  and  his  nights  in 
debauchery.  He  smokes  hashish  until  he  stupefies  his  senses  or  falls 
into  convulsions ;  he  drinks  palm  wine  till  he  brings  on  a  loathsome  dis 
ease  ;  he  abuses  his  children ;  stabs  his  poor  brute  of  a  wife,  whose 
hands  keep  him  from  starvation,  and  makes  a  trade  of  his  offspring;  he 
swallows  up  his  youth  in  premature  vice ;  he  lingers  through  a  manhood 
of  disease,  and  his  tardy  death  is  hastened  by  those  who  no  longer  care 
to  find  him  food." 

With  such  conditions  existing  in  his  native  country,  where  so  much 
missionary  work  is  needed,  America  would  like  to  see  Booker  T. 
Washington  plant  a  colony  and  start  a  school  over  there.' 

Occasionally  he  has  a  few  native  Africans  in  school  at  Tuskegee  who 
are  being  educated  to  go  back  as  missionaries,  but  the  American-born 
negro  he  retains  within  the  borders  of  Continental  United  States. 


50 

I  never  saw  a  negro  who  showed  any  patriotism  for  his  fatherland, 
however,  and  but  few  who  display  much  patriotism  to  the  United  States. 

We  have  seen  from  the  degree  of  patriotism  they  displayed  in  the 
reconstruction  days  in  the  South  that  as  a  race  they  are  entirely  in 
capable  of  executive  ability  in  Anglo-Saxon  governmental  affairs. 
They  may  be  capable  after  all  these  years  of  contact  with  the  latter 
race  to  govern  themselves  if  colonized  with  mulattoes  as  their  leaders, 
for  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  darkest  American  negro  is  far 
superior  to  the  native  African. 

Then  those  who  are  complaining  about  ill-treatment  at  the  polls 
may  vote  without  being  molested. 

The  subject  of  increase  in  crime  among  negroes  has  been  discussed 
under  previous  heads.  Suffice  it  to  say,  however,  that  when  a  race  of 
people  in  their  stage  of  development  are  placed  by  law  on  a  social  and 
legal  equality  with  another  race  so  far  in  advance  of  them  as  is  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  and  then  suppressed  by  the  superior  race  in  opposition  to 
that  law,  their  vicious  traits  are  naturally  brought  out.  As  long  as 
this  social  condition  exists  we  can  expect  nothing  else. 


J 


CHAPTER  XL 
Two  FACTIONS  AMONG  THE  NEGROES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


In  the  South  the  most  intelligent  and  most  educated  negroes  are,  gen 
erally  speaking,  the  leaders  of  their  race,  but  in  northern  cities  some  of 
the  ablest  negroes  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  masses  of  their  own 
people  or  with  racial  movements ;  they  hold  themselves  aloof,  assert 
ing  that  there  is  no  color  line,  and  if  there  is,  there  should  not  be. 
Their  business  and  their  associations  are  largely  with  white  people,  and 
they  cling  passionately  to  the  maintenance  of  such  relationship. 

In  the  South  a  general  setting  apart  of  negroes  as  such  is  being  effected 
on  an  immeasurably  wider  scale.  By  disfranchisement  they  are  being  sep 
arated  politically,  the  "Jim  Crow"  laws  set  them  apart  socially  and 
physically,  and  the  hostility  of  white  labor  in  some  callings  pushes  them 
aside  in  industrial  activities.  But  the  South  presents  no  such  striking 
contrasts  as  the  North,  because  no  southern  negroes  were  ever  accorded 
a  high  degree  of  citizenship  by  the  whites  of  that  section. 

Dr.  W.  E.  B.  DuBois,  of  Atlanta  University,  is  not  a  leader  of  men, 
as  is  Booker  T.  Washington.  He  is  rather  a  promulgator  of  ideas. 
While  Washington  is  building  a  great  educational  institution  and  organ 
izing  the  practical  activities  of  the  race,  DuBois  is  the  lonely  critic  hold 
ing  up  ideals.  DuBois  is  the  foremost  of  an  element  in  the  negro  race 
who  claim  equal  rights  socially,  politically,  and  in  every  other  respect. 
Booker  T.  Washington  is  the  leader  of  the  more  progressive  element 
who  are  following  the  advice  of  the  southern  whites  and  allowing  indus 
try  to  take  precedence  of  politics  and  discrimination. 

Mr.  William  M.  Trotter,  the  mulatto  editor  of  the  Boston  Guardian, 
and  a  follower  of  the  DuBois  doctrine,  violently  denounces  Booker  T. 
Washington,  and  President  Roosevelt.  This  paper  advises  the  North 
to  again  take  up  arms  against  the  South  to  punish  them  for  their  posi 
tion  pn  the  negro  question.  It  breathes  a  spirit  of  prejudice.  He  de 
nounces  Washington  as  a  "Jim  Crowist,"  and  President  Roosevelt  on 
account  of  his  action  regarding  the  Brownsville  riot. 

Three  years  ago  Mr.  Washington  went  to  Boston  to  address  a  col 
ored  audience  in  Zion  Church  of  that  city.  Mr.  Trotter  and  his  friends 
scattered  cayenne  pepper  on  the  rostrum  and  created  such  a  disturbance 
that  the  meeting  broke  up.  Mr.  Trotter  went  to  jail  for  the  offense. 


52 

The  majority  of  the  negro  newspapers  of  the  country,  chief  of  which1 
is  the  New  York  Age,  are  supporters  of  Booker  T.  Washington  and 
his  ideals. 

The  Astor  House,  a  negro  hotel,  which  is  operated  by  negroes  for 
negro  guests,  has  200  rooms,  with  a  telephone  in  each,  a  restaurant,  and 
other  accommodations.  Many  of  the  colored  people  of  the  city  are 
opposed  to  this,  because  they  think,  as  one  negro  expressed  it,  "The  col 
ored  man  must  not  draw  the  line  himself  if  he  don't  want  the  white 
man  to." 

A  white  woman  sought  to  establish  a  help  and  rescue  mission  in 
Boston  for  colored  girls  similar  to  those  conducted  for  Jews,  Italians, 
and  other  nationalities  in  various  cities  of  the  country,  and  was  vio 
lently  opposed  on  the  ground  that  it  set  up  a  precedent  for  color  dis 
crimination. 

A  colored  cigar  manufacturer  of  St.  Louis  says  he  has  the  hardest 
time  to  get  a  few  dealers  of  his  own  race  to  handle  his  goods. 

There  are  also  several  very  good  negro  restaurants  in  St.  Louis,  but 
twice  as  many  negroes  patronize  white  restaurants  and  lunch  counters 
of  those  vicinities  to  avoid  color  discrimination. 

Everything  that  tends  to  separate  the  negro  from  the  white  is  op 
posed  by  this  element  among  the  colored  people. 

They  fought  the  Jamestown  Exposition  because  it  had  a  Negro  Build 
ing,  which  they  called  the  "]im  Crow  Annex."  They  fought  the  Na 
tional  Christian  Endeavor  Convention  because  the  leaders  could  not 
assure  negro  delegates  exactly  equal  facilities  in  the  hotels  and  res 
taurants. 

This  element  seems  to  be  growing,  although  there  are  in  mixed 
schools  in  the  North  occasional  requests  by  negroes  for  separate  schools. 

With  the  increasing  number  of  negro  students,  prejudice  has  in 
creased  in  the  Chicago  medical  schools,  until  recently  some  of  them 
have,  by  agreement,  been  closed  to  colored  graduate  students. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

OPINIONS  OF  EMINENT  NORTHERN  MEN  BEFORE  AND  AFTER  HAVING 
VISITED  THE  SOUTH. 

The  center  of  the  negro  population  remains  in  the  South,  and 
over  nine-tenths  of  the  colored  population  has  remained  in  the  south 
ern  states.  They  are  more  adapted  to  the  climate  and  conditions  there 
than  anywhere  else  in  the  United  States. 

As  a  northern  man  I  can  frankly  say,  as  I  have  heard  hundreds  of 
others :  "We  of  the  North  have  no  conception  of  the  real  situation  until 
we  visit  the  South.  We  cannot  appreciate  the  attitude  of  the  southern 
whites  until  we  live  down  there  among  the  negroes." 

Hon.  William  Jennings  Bryan  made  the  following  statement  in 
April,  1908: 

"Under  the  laws  disfranchising  the  negro  by  demanding  educa 
tional  requirements  in  the  South  he  has  an  opportunity  to  get  within 
the  law  by  coming  within  the  qualification.  The  negro  in  the  South 
has  the  protection  of  living  under  the  laws  made  for  the  black  man 
and  the  white  man  alike,  but  the  Filipinos  are  kept  under  laws  made 
for  them  and  not  for  us. 

"The  white  man  in  the  South  has  disfranchised  the  negro  ia  self- 
protection,  and  there  is  not  a  Republican  in  the  North  who  would  not 
have  done  the  same  thing  under  the  same  circumstances.  Those  Re 
publicans  in  the  North  who  dispute  this  or  say  that  they  are  different 
from  the  South  are  either  not  frank  with  themselves  or  are  assuming 
what  is  not  trv;e.  The  white  men  in  the  South  will  not  allow  a  few 
men  to  use  the  solid  black  vote  to  further  their  own  financial  and 
political  interests.  And  that  is  what  was  being  done. 

"I  want  to  say  right  now  that  the  white  men  in  the  South  are  giving 
the  negroes  better  laws  than  the  negroes  would  give  to  the  white  men  if 
they  were  making  the  laws.  Why,  right  in  Washington  they  disfran 
chised  every  negro,  even  if  they  had  to  disfranchise  some  white  men 
to  do  it.  The  white  men  of  the  South  are  determined  that  the  negro 
will  and  shall  be  disfranchised  everywhere  it  is  necessary  to  prevent 
the  recurrence  of  the  horrors  of  carpet-bag  rule." 

In  1878  William  Morrow,  of  Chesterville,  Ohio,  wrote  in  the  Tran 
script  of  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  University : 


54 

"In  early  life  I  had  conceived  a  horror  of  slavery  in  all  its  forms,  and 
had  long  held  to  the  opinion  that  the  negro,  once  free,  and  having  a  fair 
opportunity,  would  surely  make  rapid  progress  toward  becoming  a  good  and 
honorable  citizen.  I  expected  a  good  deal  more  than  I  have  found." 

After  narrating  a  variety  of  experiences  through  the  South,  he  says : 

"As  a  rule  the  negroes  do  not  learn  as  well  as  do  children  of  Ohio.  When 
it  comes  to  reasoning  they  usually  fail.  I  had  in  my  charge  a  class  in  arith 
metic  that  had  been  half  way  through  the  book;  upon  examination  I  found 
that  not  a  single  one  of  them  could  work  an  example  in  long  division.  Their 
anger  knows  no  bounds,  often  attacking  a  teacher  in  open  school.  They 
never  plead  guilty,  and  have  an  excuse  for  any  and  all  occurrences." 

Mr.  William  Thorn  wrote  in  the  Globe  Review  of  New  York  city  in 
the  issue  of  December,  1900: 

"During  the  spring  of  1895,  and  after  more  than  thirty  years  of  sincere, 
old-fashioned  abolition  sympathy  with  the  negro  race,  I  made  two  visits  to 
several  of  our  southern  states,  with  the  following  results  :  I.  All  my  old  aboli 
tion  sympathies  vanished  like  so  many  scattered  sophistries,  for  which  I  had 
no  further  use.  2.  The  negroes  of  this  country  are  more  than  ever  a  shift 
less,  unteachable,  immoral  race,  incapable  of  any  true  civilization  in  our  land, 
and  unworthy  of  American  citizenship.  3.  I  was  convinced  that  inside  the 
next  thirty  years  the  South  would  be  obliged  to  re-enslave,  kill,  or  export 
the  bulk  of  its  negro  population." 

Rev.  Clayton  Smith,  of  Akron,  Ohio,  after  spending  several  months 
in  active  missionary  work  in  the  South,  casually  remarked : 

"Well,  if  the  Northern  people  were  placed  in  the  South  for  a  while,  they 
would  treat  the  negroes  just  as  the  southerners  do." 

I  will  quote  a  few  of  my  personal  friends  on  this  phase  of  the  sub 
ject,  all  of  whom  are  Northern  men,  but  who  have  visited  or  lived  long 
enough  in  the  South  to  acquaint  themselves  with  conditions  there. 

A  prominent  business  man  of  Washington,  D.  C.,  told  me  only  a  few 
days  ago  that,  although  he  was  raised  in  New  York  and  never  had  any 
ill-feeling  toward  the  negroes  until  he  visited  several  months  in  the 
South,  nothing  now  excited  his  disgust  and  anger  quicker  than  a  dis 
cussion  of  the  negro  question.  He  said : 

"I  am  a  church  member,  but  I  can't  keep  from  swearing  at  those  d —  coons 
when  I  discuss  the  subject." 

Dr.  E.  M.  Santee,  of  Cortland,  N.  Y.,  told  me  that  after  traveling  a 
few  months  in  Maryland  and  Virginia  he  saw  enough  of  negro  life  to 
sicken  him  of  their  presence.  He  said: 

"I  cannot  discuss  the  subject  without  saying  too  much.  I  will  merely  say, 
it  is  the  white  man's  burden." 


55 

Mr.  C.  H.  Kelley,  of  Belle  Plaine,  Iowa,  remarked  to  me  a  few 
months  ago: 

"I  wish  my  Iowa  friends  could  see  what  I  have  seen  of  the  negroes  while 
at  the  Jamestown  Exposition.  The  people  vfho  think  so  much  of  them  ought 
to  have  to  live  with  them  a  while." 

MONTGOMERY,  ALA.,  March  22,  1908. 

MY  DEAR  PROFESSOR:  It  is  hard  for  me  to  compare  the  southern  negroes 
with  western  negroes. 

The  negroes  here  are  not  as  well  educated  and  their  morals  are  much 
lower;  in  fact,  I  would  say  that  coons  here  have  no  morals  at  all.  I  did 
not  look  upon  negroes  in  Kansas  as  I  do  here.  Up  there  I  thought  them 
human.  Here  I  class  them  just  a  little  above  animals,  where  they  belong. 
The  intermarriage  and  illegal  association  with  the  lower  class  of  whites  is 
something  frightful.  I  did  not  conceive  of  such  a  thing  until  I  came  here. 

A  great  many  prominent  business  men  support  colored  women.  They  do 
not  live  with  them,  but  have  illegal  associations,  and  of  course  if  the  busi 
ness  men  have  such  relations  the  less  prominent  men  do  likewise.  In  the 
rural  districts  old  white  bachelors  frequently  live  with  negro  women.  Con 
sequently  a  yellow  people  in  the  South  are  quite  numerous,  and  the  fin&l 
outcome  is  going  to  be  a  serious  matter  some  day. 

The  negro  is  becoming  so  diseased  that  I  believe  they  would  die  off  if 
white  blood  were  kept  out. 

Of  course,  this  goes  hand  in  hand  with  criminality.  Very  few  negroes 
can  be  trusted  here.  They  never  lose  a  chance  to  steal,  and  in  lying  they 
are  talented.  My  brother  was  on  the  grand  jury  recently,  and  he  said  that 
three-fourths  of  the  cases  had  to  do  with  women,  chiefly  negroes. 

Negro  labor  is  gradually  becoming  more  inferior.  They  are  not  to  be 
depended  upon.  They  are  best  fitted  for  work  that  does  not  require  skill 
or  thought.  We  employ  negro  help  entirely  because  we  can  get  no  other. 
They  are  making  progress  in  no  line  except  criminality.  If  left  to  them 
selves  they  would  soon  become  as  they  wer*  originally.  It  is  impossible 
for  anyone  who  has  never  lived  here  to  fully  appreciate  conditions.  I  say 
that  the  negro  was  better  off  in  slavery.  This  may  not  meet  with  your 
approval,  however,  but  just  come  and  see  for  yourself. 

In  spite  of  all  this  there  is  a  great  chance  for  development  by  hustling 
business  men.  We  have  a  plantation  of  527  acres,  bought  four  years  ago 
for  $20  per  acre,  now  worth  $50.  Real  estate  is  advancing  rapidly,  and 
northern  people  are  moving  in  in  large  numbers. 

I  was  over  to  Tuskegee  last  summer,  and  was  greatly  surprised  at  the 
institution  and  university.  I  believe  that  school  is  O.  K.,  and  the  students 
are  far  above  the  average.  Any  slighting  remarks  about  that  negro  college 
are  out  of  order. 

Hoping  that  this  information  may  be  of  service  to  you  and  that  you  may 
find  time  to  make  us  a  visit  in  the  near  future,  I  am, 
Very  truly  yours, 

CHAS.  S.  JONES.  K.  A.  C.  '06. 

DALLAS,  TEXAS,  April  14,  1908. 

DEAR  MR.  MEUCK  :  I  have  your  letter  about  the  negro  question.  Sometime 
when  I  see  you  I  shall  be  able  to  dilate  upon  the  subject  and  possibly  to  give 
voice  to  some  strong  sentiments  I  have.  I  have  been  in  the  South  now  for 


56 


over  five  years.  Much  of  the  time  I  have  been  traveling,  and  my  work  has 
given  me  special  opportunities  to  observe  the  negro  animal  in  his  various 
aspects.  As  a  result  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  negro  is  a  moral, 
physical,  and  social  curse  to  this  country. 

He  is  a  moral  curse  because  he  lowers  the  tone  of  business  dealings.  It 
is  necessary  to  deal  with  him  frequently  by  force,  to  watch  to  prevent  stealing 
and  to  force  work  out  of  him.  If  he  had  his  way  he  would  work  only 
enough  days  in  the  week  to  make  money  to  buy  food  until  the  next  Monday 
morning. 

He  is  a  physical  curse  because  he  is  a  stern  reality  and  must  be  dealt  with. 

He  is  a  social  curse  because  the  female  of  his  species  is  ordinarily  proud 
to  li'i.ve  intercourse  with  young  white  men.  Many  white  men  of  line  prom 
ise  get  started  along  this  road  and  waste  the  best  years  of  their  lives — if 
indeed  they  don't  contract  disease  that  is  transmitted  to  their  offspring. 

The  French  cohabit  regularly  with  the  negroes.  I  have  seen  many  a  negro 
who  could  talk  nothing  but  French.  As  you  are  aware,  the  voting  restric 
tions  are  very  diverse.  The  only  act  which  restricts  their  voting  in  this  state 
is  one  requiring  the  payment  of  a  one  dollar  poll  tax  six  months  in  advance. 
On  account  of  the  shiftlessness  of  the  race  a  large  percentage  are  eliminated 
in  this  way.  At  the  same  time,  there  is  no  restriction  on  account  of  race, 
because  the  undesirable  white  man  is  cut  out  at  the  same  time.  In  fact,  the 
working  of  the  law  is  excellent.  It  raises  the  class  of  voters  considerably. 
I  believe  it  would  be  a  good  enactment  in  any  state. 

As  I  said  in  the  beginning,  this  is  a  large  subject.     I  could  write  a  book 
on  it.     Perhaps  this  will  do  for  the  present. 
Very  truly  yours, 

W.  D.  HUNTER. 

ORATION    OF    SOLON    W.    CUNNINGHAM,    MANHATTAN.    KANSAS. 

Turn  back  with  me  in  fancy  to  the  year  i620,  and  to  the  knoll  rising 
abruptly  above  the  gentle  decline  stretching  away  towards  the  village  of 
Jamestown.  We  look  out  o'er  the  cabin  tops  into  the  mysteries  of  an  At 
lantic  sunrise.  Wrapped  in  a  mellow,  golden  glow,  reflected  back  upon  us 
from  white,  dense  clouds  in  the  west,  we  gaze  enraptured  at  the  flashing, 
changing  splendors  on  that  restless  water  stretching  out  beyond  the  horizon. 

As  we  look,  there  breaks  into  our  line  of  vision  the  white  sails  of  a  ship. 
A  ship !  We  forget,  at  once,  the  sunrise  and  its  splendors.  From  whence 
does  this  craft  come?  The  Golden  Horn  has  been  but  eight  days  out  of  port. 
The  Cross  Bar  can  no  more  than  have  left  England  on  her  return  voyage. 
The  ship  has  been  sighted  by  the  villagers.  Many  are  making  their  way 
toward  the  seashore.  Taking  off  to  the  north,  the  vessel,  with  sails  reversed, 
swings  back  and  drops  anchor  in  the  harbor. 

Eagerly  the  villagers  watch  every  move  made  by  the  ship's  crew.  The 
hold  is  uncovered.  At  the  crack  of  a  short  club-like  whip  (a  "slaver,"  we 
hear  someone  remark,)  black,  half-naked  people  swarm  up  through  the  hold. 
Partly  in  fear,  and  partly  in  the  spirit  of  rebellion,  they  trample  one  another 
in  their  efforts  to  reach  the  deck.  Huddling  to  one  side  of  the  ship,  they 
are,  as  so  many  cattle,  cut  out,  ten  by  ten,  and  brought  ashore.  With  cowed, 
sullen  steps  they  are  marched  to  the  market  place  to  await  their  purchase 
by  plantation  owners. 

Such  was  the  coming  of  the  Ethiopian  into  this  Western  Hemisphere.  His 
descendants  to-day  constitute  a  people  eight  million  in  numbers — a  people 
who  have  contributed  nothing  to  the  world  or  to  national  advancement.  The 
one  great  shadow  which  clouds  the  future  of  the  American  Republic  is  the 
approaching  tragedy  of  the  irrepressible  conflict  between  the  negro  and  the 
white  man  in  the  development  of  our  society. 


o/ 

At  the  present  rate  of  increase  the  negro  will  number  sixty  millions  by 
the  end  of  this  century.  Think  for  a  moment  of  what  this  means,  and  you 
face  the  gravest  problem  which  ever  puzzled  the  brain  of  statesman  or 
philosopher.  A  problem  of  such  proportions  never  before  confronted  the 
white  man  in  his  recorded  history. 

Meet  it  and  fight  it  to  a  finish.  For  more  than  one-half  century  it  has 
been  pushed  out  into  the  future.  Although  our  fathers  spilled  their  heart's 
blood  upon  many  a  battlefield  to  free  the  black  man,  they  nevertheless  thrust 
the  solution  of  this  question  from  them.  With  doubled  proportions  it  has 
drifted  down  to  us.  How  much  farther  are  we  going  to  let  it  drift?  Are  we 
going  to  let  it  float  upon  the  current  of  inaction,  increasing  in  magnitude,  for 
our  posterity  to  contend  with? 

Abraham  Lincoln  foresaw  this  tragedy  when  he  wrote  his  emancipation 
proclamation.  At  the  close  of  the  civil  war  he,  recognizing  the  serious  prob 
lem  which  his  proclamation  had  created,  asked  Congress  for  an  appropriation 
of  a  billion  dollars  to  colonize  the  whole  negro  race.  He  never  believed  it 
possible  to  assimilate  him  into  our  national  life-  No  man  ever  expressed  this 
idea  more  clearly  than  did  Lincoln  when  he  said :  "There  is  a  physical  dif 
ference  between  the  white  and  black  man  which  I  believe  will  forever  forbid 
them  living  together  on  terms  of  social  and  political  equality." 

What  is  this  physical  difference?  Its  secret  lies  in  the  gulf  of  thousands 
of  years  of  inherited  progress  which  separates  the  child  of  the  Aryan  from 
the  child  of  the  African. 

Human  history  begins  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  That  land  occupied  by 
the  Egyptians  has  a  history  dating  back  from  five  thousand  to  seventeen 
thousand  years  before  Christ.  In  this  long  lapse  of  years  we  find  an  occa 
sional  record  of  the  negro. 

In  that  iabled  valley  God  planted  the  Egyptian  and  the  negro  side  by  side. 
Theirs  were  equal  opportunities.  The  world  was  new.  No  man  could  teach 
his  neighbor,  for  he  had  nothing  to  lend.  No  man  could  better  his  neigh 
bor's  environment,  for  their  environment  were  identical. 

Here  was  the  earth  fresh  from  the  hand  of  the  Creator.  On  her  restlessly 
tossed  the  mysterious  sea,  and  far  away  into  the  inky  blackness  of  the  night 
giiir.ed.  with  their  lesson  spread,  the  uncounted  stars.  All  the^e  wero  to 
be  studied;  all  were  to  be  conquered.  No  color  line  was  drawn,  and  the 
door  of  hope  swung  wide. 

There  were  no  trusts  in  those  days,  no  monopolies,  no  riches  or  poverty. 
Nothing  had  been  bought;  nothing  homesteaded.  There  were  no  masters 
a:id  no  slaves;  everything  was  equal. 

Follow  down  the  records  of  history  and  note  the  lapse  of  a  few  centuries. 
The  high  state  of  civilization  which  Egypt  reached  is  almost  incompre 
hensible.  The  Egyptian  was  skilled  in  medicine.  He  wrote  works  on 
astronomy,  architecture,  and  anatomy,  fragments  of  which  have  a  place 
in  the  sciences  of  to-day.  He  had  erected  constitutional  government  and 
safeguarded  the  people's  rights.  He  had  harnessed  the  Nile  and  reared  the 
pyramids.  His  cities  are  to-day  the  wonder  of  mankind. 

But  the  negro's  jungle  was  still  a  jungle.  He  had  no  government,  no 
learning,  no  arts.  He  had  no  clothing,  no  cities,  no  aspirations.  Left  alone, 
contented  in  his  jungle,  he  had  progressed  backwards,  and  become  ,i  .Veder 
upon  human  flesh,  a  polygamist,  without  religion,  family  ties,  or  morals. 

The  negro  started  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  Egyptian.  He  helped  to 
build  the  Temple  of  Rfimeses.  He  toiled  upon  the  columns  of  Karnark.  He 
came  and  went  through  the  hundred  gates  of  Thebes.  If  he  gained  any^  con 
ception  of  these  colossal  works,  he  never  used  it  for  his  own  welfare.  Under 
the  lash  of  Egypt  he  could  build  the  pyramids,  but  no  comprehension  of  the 
spirit  which  reared  those  massiv«e  monuments  ever  penetrated  his  skull. 


58 


Mankind  is  making  history.  The  Assyrians  conquered  Egypt-  The  Persian 
dynasty  rose  and  fell.  Mighty  Carthage  unmoored  her  thousand  galleys, 
dominated  the  maritime  world  and  fell  before  the  onset  of  armored  Rome. 
Africa's  shores  trembled  with  the  tread  of  Genseric's  armies,  returning  from 
the  conquest  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Conquering  Moslems  swept  westward, 
crossed  into  Spain  and  subjugated  it.  Steel-armed  warriors  came  out  of  the 
north — white  savages,  who  beat  down  the  barriers  of  Rome  and  overran  the 
world.  Boneparte  marshalled  his  modern  gladiators  in  the  shadows  of  the 
pyramids.  The  negro  watched  them  all  and  remained  unchanged. 

The  American  colonies  rent  asunder  the  ties  that  bound  them  to  Great 
Britain.  A  second  war  was  fought,  and  the  black  man  found  himself  free. 

The  negro  through  sixty  turbulent  centuries  knew  nothing  of  history. 
History  knew  nothing  of  the  negro.  He  was  not  a  contributor  to  the  onward 
march  and  gained  nothing  from  it.  All  the  peoples  of  the  world  claimed  a 
page  in  the  great  book  of  world  events — all  save  one.  Changeless,  im 
mutable  as  the  graven  sphinx,  he  stood  stock  still,  wondering  at  these  rest 
less  nations  who  dreamed  and  accomplished  beyond  his  comprehension.  Of 
all  created  things,  he  alone  escaped  the  universal  uplift,  the  world-wide  bet 
terment.  With  him  there  has  been  no  voluntary  transition.  Left  to  himself, 
he  has  never  done  anything  for  himself,  has  not  shown  the  slightest  inclina 
tion  to  better  his  own  condition. 

Buckle,  in  his  history  of  civilization,  says :  "The  actions  of  bad  men 
produce  only  temporary  evil.  The  actions  of  good  men  only  temporary  good. 
The  discoveries  of  genius  alone  remain.  To  these  we  owe  all  that  we  now 
have.  They  are  for  all  ages  and  all  times.  Never  young  and  never  old, 
they  bear  the  seeds  of  their  own  lives ;  they  are  essentially  cumulative." 

Judged  by  this  supreme  test,  the  African,  has  contributed  absolutely  noth 
ing  to  human  progress.  Six  thousand  years  of  savagery  will  have  to  be 
obliterated  ere  he  will  ever  contribute  anything  to  the  records  of  civiliza 
tion.  In  the  environment  he  is  afforded  he  becomes  imitative,  but  his  imita 
tion  does  not  reach  the  basic  virtues  of  his  model. 

Upon  this  imitation  are  based  these  words  of  Booker  T.  Washington: 
"The  negro  race  has  developed  more  rapidly  in  the  thirty  years  of  its  free 
dom  than  the  Latin  race  has  in  one  thousand  years  of  freedom." 

Oh,  the  pitiful  puerility  of  this  statement  issuing  from  the  mind  of  the 
wisest  and  greatest  man  the  black  race  has  ever  produced!  Italy  is  the 
mother  of  genius,  the  inspiration  of  the  ages,  the  creator  of  architecture, 
agriculture  and  manufactures ;  the  formulator  of  commerce,  law  and  finance ; 
the  cradle  of  philosophy,  science,  and  church  organizations.  Through  her 
culminated  sculpturing,  painting,  literature,  and  music.  And  yet,  the  Amer 
ican  negro  in  thirty  years  has  outstripped  her  thousands  of  years  of  priceless 
;>rbirveir  entp 

We  cannot  say  that  the  negro's  environment  is  not  lifting  him.  Within 
the  walls  of  almost  all  our  universities  and  colleges  we  find  the  negro  fitting 
himself  for  higher  things. 

Booker  T.  Washington  is  training  the  black  man  of  the  south  to  be  inde 
pendent,  to  plant  his  own  fields,  to  own  and  operate  his  own  industries. 
Every  negro  who  is  thus  schooled  steps  out  into  the  world  to  battle  for 
himself. 

I  do  not  say  this  is  not  commendable.  I  do  not  say  that  it  is  not  honor 
able.  I  only  ask,  what  will  the  end  be  for  the  negro  when  the  work  is  per 
fect?  He  will  have  climbed  to  the  bitterest  experiences  he  has  yet  realized. 
It  will  place  him  upon  his  own  resources.  Force  him  into  competition  with 
the  white  man  and  by  the  law  of  survivorship  he  must  stand  or  fall. 

It  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that  no  colored  race  has  ever  been 


59 

able  to  survive  in  competition  with  the  whites.  From  the  beginning  of  time 
the  white  races  have  never  bowed  to  a  superior.  They  have  tolerated  other 
peoples  so  long  as  those  peoples  did  not  come  into  direct  competition  and 
conflict  with  them. 

For  the  Ethiopian,  competition  means  extermination.  It  is  war  in  its 
worst  and  most  merciless  form.  The  white  man,  with  inherited  competency 
and  intelligence  will  demand  the  best  places  and  the  best  wages.  Yea,  with 
his  increasing  population  he  will,  in  a  few  more  generations,  demand  them 
all,  from  the  greatest  to  the  least.  In  commerce  the  white  man  will  outwit 
the  negro,  in  politics  control  him,  in  war  annihilate  him. 

Does  any  man  believe  that,  when  the  negro  ceases  to  work  under  the  direc 
tion  of  the  white  man,  he  will  allow  the  negro  to  master  his  industrial  sys 
tem  and  crowd  him  to  the  wall?  Could  fatuity  reach  a  sublimer  height  than 
the  idea  that  the  white  man  will  stand  idly  by  and  watch  this  performance? 

What  will  we  do  when  put  to  the  test  ?  We  will  do  that  which  we  have 
done  from  time  immemorial :  Take  for  our  own  selves  what  we  desire, 
regardless  of  the  issue  it  may  evolve. 

By  our  present  attitude  we  are  deceiving  this  weaker  race,  brought  to  our 
shores  by  the  sins  of  our  fathers.  The  negro,  forgetting  that  self-preserva 
tion  is  the  first  law  of  nature,  hopes  and  dreams  of  amalgamation.  His 
black  blood,  back  of  which  lies  thousands  of  years  of  listless,  ambitionless, 
savage  ancestry,  forbids  his  assimilation.  It  would  but  drag  the  Anglo 
Saxon  from  his  course  of  advancement,  quench  his  aspirations,  minimize  his 
ambition,  and  dull  his  intellect. 

We  owe  the  negro  a  square  deal,  but  he  will  never  get  it  in  America.  The 
hopes  that  we  instill,  the  dreams  that  we  inspire,  and  the  aspirations  that  we 
create,  he  can  but  dash  to  pieces  against  the  bars  of  competition.  "No 
amount  of  education  of  any  kind,  industrial,  classical  or  religious,  can  bridge 
the  chasm  of  the  centuries  which  separates  him  from  the  white  man  in  the 
evolution  of  human  civilization." 

His  future,  if  it  be  brighter,  lies  elsewhere  than  in  contact  with  the 
Anglo-Saxon.  Colonization  abroad  is  the  only  means  through  which  the 
negro's  future  will  be  left  to  him.  It  offers  the  possibility  that  the  negro, 
schooled  as  he  has  been  in  the  ways  of  the  white  man,  will  work  out  his 
own  salvation.  We,  the  Anglo-Saxon  referred  to  by  Professor  Kelly  Miller 
as  "the  most  arrogant  and  rapacious,  the  most  exclusive  and  intolerant  race 
in  history,"  will  never  permit  the  American  negro  to  rise  above  his  present 
plane.  Africa,  that  great  unutilized  continent,  offers  unbuilded  empires  and 
unenlightened  nations  that  the  American  negro,  if  he  be  capable,  could  build 
and  enlighten. 

It  is  time  we  were  up  and  forcing  the  question.  In  the  following,  Thomas 
Dixon,  Jr.,  has  voiced  the  minds  of  those  who  are  willing  to  face  the  issue : 
"We  have  spent  eight  hundred  millions  on  negro  education  since  the  war. 
One-half  of  this  sum  would  have  been  sufficient  to  have  made  Liberia  a  rich 
and  ppv/erful  negro  state.  Liberia  is  capable  of  supporting  every  negro  in 
America.  Why  not  face  this  question  squarely?  We  are  temporizing  and 
playing  with  it,  letting  it  drift  to  greater  issues.  All  our  educational  schemes 
are  but  compromises  and  temporary  makeshifts.  Mr.  Booker  T.  Washing 
ton's  work  is  one  of  noble  aims.  A  branch  of  it  should  be  immediately  estab 
lished  in  Monrovia,  the  capital  of  Liberia.  A  gift  of  ten  millions  would  do 
this  and  establish  a  colony  of  a  half  million  negroes  within  two  years.  They 
could  lay  the  foundations  of  a  free,  black  republic,  which,  within  twenty-five 
years,  would  solve  our  race  problem  on  the  only  rational  basis  within  human 
power." 

Colonization  is  not  a  failure.    It  has  never  been  tried. 


60 

If  it  lead  to  the  negro's  reversion  to  savagery,  let  it.  Can  we,  in  justice 
to  our  own  posterity,  leave  this  problem,  with  its  increasing  complexity,  for 
their  solution  ?  Can  the  American  people  in  reason  be  expected  to  blast  their 
future  and  jeopardize  their  integrity  by  running  the  increasing  risk  of  mis 
cegenation?  Is  not  the  right  of  self-preservation  stronger  in  law  and  ethics 
than  the  doubtful  duty  of  sustaining  a  race  that  will  not  and  cannot  stand 
alone?  This  cancer  upon  the  body  politic  requires  heroic  surgery.  Remove 
it  now,  before  it  consumes  our  bodies,  obliterates  our  glorious  past,  and 
imperils  our  future. 

The  above  solution  of  the  "Negro  Problem"  was  delivered  by  Solon 
W.  Cunningham,  February  10,  1908,  at  the  annual  oratorical  contest 
at  the  Kansas  Agricultural  College. 

It  expresses  the  ideas  of  probably  one-half  of  the  white  people  of  the 
United  States.  To  stimulate  such  an  idea  to  legislative  action  would 
require  sufficient  agitation  through  public  opinion  to  repeal  the  Four 
teenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

This  would  require  a  vote  of  two-thirds  majority  of  the  voters,  and 
as  long  as  the  negroes  are  allowed  to  vote  the  plan,  however  desirable,  is 
not  likely  to  be  carried  out. 

The  question  has  received  more  or  less  attention  from  various  sources 
ever  since  the  civil  war.  The  following  outline  of  one  meeting  held  for 
a  discussion  of  the  subject  is  an  example  of  hundreds  that  have  been 
held  for  this  purpose:  On  Wednesday,  June  9,  1890,  a  conference  of 
men  and  women,  invited  by  Mr.  A.  K.  Smiley,  met  at  the  Lake  Hohonk 
Hotel,  Ulster  County,  New  York,  and  discussed  plans  to  raise  to  full 
stature  of  American  citizenship  the  negro  race.  Ex-President  R.  B. 
Hayes  was  made  chairman ;  secretaries,  Rev.  A.  H.  Bradford,  D.  D., 
Montclair,  N.  J. ;  George  P.  Whittlesey,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Mrs.  Isa 
bel  C.  Barrows,  Boston,  Mass.  Dr.  C.  L.  Warner  of  New  York  city 
was  elected  treasurer,  and  an  executive  committee  composed  of  the  fol 
lowing  was  elected :  M.  E.  Gates,  LL.  D.,  president  Rutger's  College, 
New  Brunswick,  N.  J. ;  Dr.  E.  M.  Strieby,  New  York ;  H.  O.  Hough- 
ton,  Boston ;  Rev.  R.  H.  Allen,  D.  D.,  Pittsburg,  Pa. ;  Rev.  A.  W.  Pitzer, 
D.  D.,  Washington,  D.  C.  All  of  the  officers  were  appointed  from 
states  where  the  negro  problem  does  not  exist,  and  who,  from  their  re 
marks,  knew  little  about  it. 

The  first  address  was  given  by  Mr.  Hayes.  Its  sentiment  may  be 
summed  up  in  one  of  his  sentences : 

"We  are,  indeed,  the  keepers  of  our  brothers  in  black;  having  deprived 
them  of  their  labor,  liberty,  and  manhood,  and  grown  rich  and  strong  while 
doing  it,  we  have  no  excuse  for  neglecting  them,  if  our  selfishness  prompted 
us  to  do  so." 

The  majority  of  the  other  papers  were  by  northern  men  and  ex 
pressed  the  same  sentiment.  Dr.  White  alone  took  a  broad  view  of  the 
subject.  The  second  speaker,  S.  B.  Armstrong,  of  Hampton,  Va., 
said  that  the  greatest  trouble  with  the  negro  is  deficiency  in  character : 


61 

"You  can  feed  and  clothe  the  negro,  build  his  home  and  give  him  knowl 
edge;  but  that  does  not  necessarily  build  up  character." 

He  said  that  the  whites  were  in  the  golden  age  and  the  black  back  in 
the  iron  age. 

W.  T.  Harris  said  that  the  seventeen  states  in  which  slavery  existed 
previous  to  the  civil  war  had  in  attendance  in  their  public  schools 
1,140,405  colored  children,  17,683  in  private  and  endowed,  and  5,066  in 
colleges. 

Andrew  D.  White,  ex-president  of  Cornell  University,  said :  "This 
question  is  not  a  national,  but  a  local  one.  The  Indian  question  is  na 
tional.  It  is  a  national  heritage  and  a  national  obligation.  It  presses 
upon  all  parts  alike  and  presses  upon  no  section.  This  is  not  the  case 
with  the  negro  problem.  While  it  has  only  touched  the  North  in  spots, 
the  problem  and  the  race  are  throughout  the  entire  southern  country 
from  one  end  to  the  other.  The  southern  people  understand  the  negro 
better  than  anyone  else  and  should  have  the  management  of  the  ques 
tion." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

EXTRACTS    FROM    SENATOR    TINMAN'S    SPEECHES    IN    THE   UNITED 
STATES  SENATE  CHAMBER. 

The  northerners  never  knew  what  negro  domination  was.  The  ques 
tion  does  not  concern  them,  because  it  does  not  interfere  in  the  least 
with  their  business  or  social  pleasure.  When  I  lived  in  Nebraska  I 
seldom  gave  it  a  thought.  Since  coming  to  Maryland,  and  after  trav 
eling  through  most  of  the  southern  states,  I  realize  that  it  is  a  serious 
proposition,  and  one  that  should  interest  every  patriotic  citizen. 

My  observations  coincide  so  nearly  with  some  of  the  conditions  de 
scribed  in  the  speeches  of  Senator  Benjamin  R.  Tillman,  of  South 
Carolina,  in  the  Congressional  Record,  and  since  his  observations  cover 
many  more  years  than  mine,  I  will  quote  a  few  paragraphs  from  these 
congressional  speeches.  In  his  speech  of  February  23rd,  1903,  he  said : 

"The  history  of  education  in  South  Carolina  for  the  last  twenty-five 
years,  before  the  new  Constitution  and  since,  has  been  that  there  are  more 
negro  children  in  our  public  schools  than  there  are  white.  The  abolition  of 
slavery  gave  the  death  blow  to  open  vice,  but  those  great  controllers  of  moral 
action,  self-respect,  attachment  to  law,  and  veneration  of  God,  which  slavery 
destroyed,  freedom  has  resuscitated.  I  realize  that  no  man  should  approach 
this  subject  from  any  standpoint  other  than  that  of  patriotic  Americans 
who  have  to  deal  with  the  terrible  conditions  which  will  require  the  best 
minds  and  the  best  hearts  in  this  country  to  even  ameliorate,  much  less  to 
solve.  In  the  Spanish  war  the  southern  states  sent  their  quotas  of  volun 
teers  as  promptly  to  be  marshalled  under  the  common  flag  as  the  northern 
states.  The  North  has  had  little  or  no  hatred  for  us.  But  they  do  net  know 
what  is  involved  in  this  issue.  They  cannot  understand  it,  because  they  have 
no  similar  conditions." 

In  the  North  Democrats  and  Republicans  are  on  a  level.  You  do 
not  know  the  difference  as  you  walk  along  the  streets.  Personal 
friendship  and  business  relations  are  most  intimate.  But  in  the  South, 
where  every  negro  is  a  Republican,  the  whites  are  Democrats,  so  that 
they  may  be  able  to  control  the  negroes  if  for  nothing  else. 

In  his  speech  of  January  24,  1907,  Mr.  Tillman  says : 

"The  recollection  of  the  actions  of  the  negro  soldiers  who  were  quartered 
in  the  South  in  1866  and  1867,  the  outrages,  the  infamies,  the  cruelties  that 


63 

were  perpetrated  dpon  our  people  by  them,  there  is  no  wonder  that  we  hate 
the  very  idea  of  a  negro  soldier  wearing  the  uniform  of  the  United  States 
and  representing  authority." 

"We  had  8,000  negro  militia  organized  by  carpet  baggers.  The  carpet  bag 
governor  had  come  to  Washington  and  had  persuaded  General  Grant  to 
transcend  his  authority  by  issuing  to  the  state  quota  of  arms  under  the 
militia  appropriation  for  twenty  years  in  advance,  in  order  to  get  enough  to 
equip  these  negro  soldiers. 

"All  this  after  Abraham  Lincoln  had  said :  'No  more  insane  blunder  could 
now  be  made  than  any  further  attempt  to  use  the  negro  troops  to  preserve 
peace  in  the  South.' 

"Clashes  came.  The  negro  militia  grew  unbearable  and  more  and  more 
insolent.  I  am  not  speaking  of  what  I  read ;  I  am  speaking  of  what  I  know, 
of  what  I  saw.  There  were  two  militia  companies  in  my  township  and  a 
regiment  in  my  county.  We  had  clashes  with  these  negro  militiamen.  The 
Hamburg  riot  was  one  clash,  in  which  seven  negroes  and  one  white  man 
were  killed.  A  month  later  we  had  the  Ellenton  riot,  in  which  no  one  ever 
knew  how  many  negroes  were  killed,  but  there  were  forty,  or  fifty,  or  a 
hundred.  It  was  a  fight  between  barbarism  and  civilization,  between  African 
2nd  Caucasian,  for  nastery.  It  was  then  that  we  shot  them;  it  was  then 
that  we  killed  them;  it  was  then  that  we  stuffed  the  ballot-boxes. 

"After  the  troops  came  and  told  us  we  must  stop  this  rioting,  we  had 
decided  to  take  the  government  away  from  men  so  debased  as  were  these 
negroes— I  will  not  say  baboons ;  I  never  have  called  them  baboons ;  I  be 
lieve  they  are  men,  but  some  of  them  are  so  near  akin  to  the  monkey  that 
scientists  are  yet  looking  for  the  missing  link. 

"We  saw  enough  of  the  evil  of  giving  the  ballot  to  creatures  of  this  kind, 
and  saying  that  the  vote  shall  count,  regardless  of  the  man  behind  it,  whether 
or  not  that  vote  would  kill  mine.  So  we  thought  we  would  let  you  see  that 
it  took  something  else  besides  having  the  shape  of  a  man  to  make  a  man. 
'Desperate  diseases  require  desperate  remedies.'  1867  was  the  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  the  action  of  the 
white  men  of  South  Carolina,  in  that  year,  in  taking  the  state  away  from 
the  negroes,  we  regard  as  a  second  Declaration  of  Independence  by  the 
Caucasian  from  the  African  barbarism. 

"If  we  had  been  content  to  submit  to  the  reconstruction  acts  which  had 
thrust  the  ballot  into  the  hands  of  ignorant  and  debased  negroes,  slaves  five 
years  before,  and  only  five  years  removed  from  African  barbarism,  the  state 
of  South  Carolina  to-day  would  be  a  howling  wilderness,  a  second  San 
Domingo. 

"If  this  issue  is  presented  to  the  American  people,  if  they  are  made  clearly 
to  understand  what  is  involved  in  the  conditions  in  the  South  now,  and  what 
will  inevitably  come  in  the  near  future,  they  can  no  longer,  and  never  will,  be 
rallied  again  under  the  cry  of  enfranchising  the  negro  of  the  South. 

"We  have  butchered  the  Indian  and  taken  his  land.  We  have  denied  that 
the  Malay  is  fit.  Vet  wr-  stand  proclaiming  that  the  African  is  fit.  The  ne 
groes  of  the  old  slave  days,  the  negroes  with  whom  I  played  in  childhood 
never  presumr-d  t<»  assert  equality.  For  these  negroes  there  is  throughout 
the  south  a  universal  feeling  ot  respect  and  love.  I  have  a  photograph  oi 
one  of  these.  I  term  him  'Old  Black  Joe,'  for  he  is  a  full-blooded  negro  and 
about  sixty  years  old.  He  has  been  living  with  me  about  thirty-five  years. 
He  now  has  the  keys  to  my  home  in  South  Carolina.  He  has  full  charge 
of  my  stock,  and  my  plantation.  He  is  a  shining  example  of  what  the  negro 
can  be  and  how  he  can  get  along  with  the  white  man  peacefully,  pleasantly, 
and  honorably,  enjoying  all  his  liberties  and  rights.  He  has  never  meddled 


64 

with  voting.  He  occupies  the  same  attitude  as  the  white  man  and  negro  do 
in  this  District.  They  do  not  meddle  with  voting.  Every  child  I  ever  had 
would  share  his  last  crust  with  that  negro  to-morrow." 

"During  the  civil  war  there  were  in  the  South  about  800,000  negro  men 
of  adult  age.  The  women  and  children  of  the  Confederate  soldiers  were 
left  at  home  entirely  helpless  with  these  negroes.  There  is  not  on  record  a 
solitary  instance  of  one  white  woman  having  been  wronged  until  near  the 
close  of  the  war. 

"The  putrefaction  is  now  going  on. 

''Relieved  from  police  control,  they  are  no  longer  compelled,  as  the  Indians 
have  been,  by  troops  to  stay  on  their  reservations.  These  negroes  move 
where  they  please.  They  have  a  little  smattering  of  education.  That  soon 
reaches  its  limit.  Some  of  them  have  white  blood  in  their  veins,  and  are 
taught  that  they  are  as  good  as  white  men.  They  ask  why  not  as  good  as 
white  women?  And  when  caste  feeling,  race  pride,  and  every  instinct  that 
influences  and  controls  the  white  women  makes  them  spurn  the  thought,  rape 
follows.  Murder  and  rape  become  a  monomania.  The  negro  becomes  a 
fiend  in  human  form. 

"Race  hatred  grows  day  by  day.  There  is  no  man  who  is  honest,  going 
through  the  South,  and  conversing  with  the  white  people  and  blacks,  but  will 
return  and  tell  you  this  is  true.  Some  of  the  negroes  have  a  good  excuse. 
I  will  not  dispute  it.  If  I  were  a  negro  I  would  probably  do  as  they  do,  but 
being  a  white,  man,  I  expect  to  do  just  as  I  am  doing,  so  help  me  God,  as 
long  as  I  live. 

"The  south  is  occupying  an  attitude  of  constant  friction,  race  riot,  butch 
ery,  the  inevitable,  irrepressible  conflict,  between  a  white  civilization  and  a 
black  barbarism.  I  plead  for  the  negro  as  much  as  for  the  white  man.  This 
body  of  death  is  chained  to  our  backs  by  two  constitutional  amendments, 
and  I  ask  you  in  God's  name ;  I  ask  you  in  the  name  of  civilization ;  I  ask 
you  in  the  name  of  purity  and  virtue  of  the  white  women  of  the  South,  to 
do  something  to  relieve  us  from  this  body  cf  death  in  the  South." 

In  Mr.  Tillman's  speech  before  Congress,  January  12,  1907,  in  dis 
cussing  the  shooting  affray  at  Brownsville,  Texas,  on  the  nights  of 
August  13  and  14,  1906,  he  further  says: 

"The  War  Department  in  its  dispatches  showed  great  earnestness  and 
dread  lest  if  the  accused  were  surrendered  they  could  not  be  defended,  and 
as  I  say  they  were  sneaked  out  of  Brownsville  because  of  the  dread  that  if 
it  were  known  that  they  were  being  carried  away  somebody,  somewhere, 
might  meet  the  train  and  have  a  lynching.  I  want  to  ask  anybody  here 
whether,  if  these  had  been  white  soldiers,  there  would  have  been  a  word 
said  about  mob  violence? 

"If  the  race  question  looms  up  here  as  prominently  as  the  Washington 
Monument  looms  across  the  western  horizon,  what  is  the  use  for  us  to  shun 
and  dread  its  discussion? 

"We  settled  slavery,  and  we  settled  the  question  of  nationality.  We  de 
stroyed  one,  and  we  settled  forever  the  proposition  as  to  whether  we  were  a 
confederation  or  a  nation.  We  are  a  nation  with  a  big  N,  but  the  southern 
half  of  this  country  has  no  conception  of  the  word  'nation'  except  that  it  is 
connected  with  the  word  'nigger.'  More's  the  pity! 

"Broadly  speaking,  the  white  people  of  the  United  States  are  face  to  face 
with  the  vital  issue  as  to  whether  the  Caucasian  race  shall  share  its  inherit 
ance  with  the  other  races  of  the  earth. 


65 

"On  the  Pacific  Coast  the  relationship  between  the  Caucasians  and  mongo- 
lians  is  involved.  Obliteration  of  the  race  line,  and  granting  of  full  citizen 
ship  is  bitterly  opposed  by  the  Americans.  These  Americans  ought  to  know 
what  is  for  their  best  interests.  They  ought  to  have,  and  undoubtedly  will 
have,  the  sympathy  and  aid  of  their  fellow-citizens,  north  and  south,  in  pro 
tecting  their  interests.  But  these  two  phases  of  the  race  problem  sink  into 
insignificance  compared  with  the  greater  and  more  vital  question  of  rela 
tionship  of  the  races  in  the  southern  states  of  this  Union. 

"Are  there  any  senators  in  this  chamber  who  would  have  the  Caucasian, 
highest  and  noblest  of  the  five  races,  as  is  attested  by  history,  descend  to  the 
level  of  the  lowest  of  them,  with  the  inevitable  result  that  pure  white  blood, 
mixing  for  centuries  with  black,  will  disappear  from  the  face  of  the  earth, 
and,  after  the  mixing  shall  have  completed  the  amalgamation,  we  shall  have 
all  men  of  one  type  and  one  skin? 

"Are  things  to  drift  until  direful  tragedies  multiply  on  every  hand  and 
blood  shall  flow  like  water?  Is  the  statesmanship  of  our  time  inadequate 
to  cope  with  this  question,  just  as  statesmanship  of  1860  failed  to  prevent 
the  dire  catastrophe  of  civil  war?  That  war  was  fought  to  settle  the  race 
question,  but  forty  years  after  its  termination  we  find  conditions  more  threat 
ening  in  some  of  their  aspects  than  they  were  in  1861. 

"The  North  went  to  war  to  destroy  slavery  and  restore  the  Union.  If 
they  had  stopped  there  we  would  have  none  of  this  trouble  on  our  hands 
now.  The  question  would  have  been  allowed  to  evolute  naturally,  and  we 
would  have  been  permitted  to  give  to  those  negroes  who  may  have  shown 
themselves  qualified  to  hold  the  ballot  the  right  to  vote.  But  we  have  made 
a  mistake  of  enfranchising  a  race,  slaves  last  week,  barbarians  three  genera 
tions  ago.  If  it  was  a  mistake  why  not  say  so?  And  why  not  retrace  our 
steps  ? 

"I  plead  with  senators  here  not  to  ignore  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  not 
to  allow  things  to  go  on  as  they  are  going  on  now,  involving  a  struggle  for 
mastery  between  the  two  races  in  the  South,  coupled  with  the  direful  trag 
edies  that  will  come,  because  the  white  people  are  resolved  to  maintain  their 
civilization  and  protect  their  women.  It  is  a  serious  obligation  of  duty,  and 
if  I  do  nothing  else  in  this  debate  than  to  have  the  subject  presented  broadly 
from  the  standpoint  of  patriotism  and  of  statesmanship  by  somebody  else,  I 
will  welcome  the  opportunity  to  give  some  more  facts  when  the  time  comes. 
This  Brownsville  incident  would  never  have  attracted  a  thousandth  part  of 
the  interest  it  has  but  for  the  fact  that  this  great  underlying  question  is 
involved  in  it. 

"I  have  merely  tried  to  point  out  that  we  in  the  South  are  on  the  crest  of 
a  volcano;  we  are  environed  with  dangers  of  which  the  people  of  the  north 
have  no  conception,  and  we  realize  the  fearful  tragedies  that  are  confronting 
us  unless  something  can  be  done  to  ameliorate  conditions.  It  is  high  time 
that  something  was  being  done  to  have  this  great  and  vital  question  brought 
before  the  country  in  some  practical  and  sensible  way.  The  deep  interest 
shown  in  the  Brownsville  tragedy  is  ample  evidence  that  the  people  of  the 
country  are  beginning  to  feel  concerned  in  the  various  phases  of  this  ques 
tion.  It  is  absolutely  useless  for  doctrinarians  and  politicians  to  undertake 
to  pooh,  pooh,  the  question  and  dismiss  it  with  a  wave  of  the  hand,  and  I 
for  one  am  ready  to  go  to  battle  under  the  slogan,  'America  for  Americans  i' 
This  is  a  white  man's  country,  and  white  men  must  govern  it." 

From  these  remarks  we  can  readily  see  that,  although  it  is  prac 
tically  a  sectional  problem,  it  has  a  national  aspect,  and  should  concern 
every  patriotic  citizen  of  the  United  States  to  the  extent  of  using  his 


66 

vote  or  influence  in  bringing  relief  to  the  situation  should  it  ever  be 
made  a  national  issue.  A  negro  free  in  the  South  is  not  half  free,  un 
less  he  lives  in  a  community  where  negroes  are  so  largely  in  the  ma 
jority  that  a  white  man  dare  not  express  his  opinion  in  public.  In  such 
communities  life  for  a  white  man  is  almost  unendurable.  Equality  in 
such  places  is  a  hopeless  dream.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  progress  in  the 
South  is  so  far  behind  that  of  the  North  to-day? 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
LITERATURE  AND  COMMENTS  ON  THE  NEGRO  QUESTION. 

There  have  been  many  contributors  to  the  cause  of  solution  of  the 
race  problem.  Hundreds  of  books  and  magazine  articles  have  dis 
cussed  it  pro  and  con,  and  a  wealth  of  ignorance  has  been  expended 
on  the  subject  with  little  or  no  effect. 

Too  many  people  have  written  on  this  problem  before  having  had  an 
opportunity  to  study  it  thoroughly.  One  should  not  give  public  ex 
pression  to  this  grave  question  until  he  has  spent  at  least  a  few  months 
in  the  South. 

One  writer  in  a  New  York  daily  paper  wrote:  "The  negroes  of 
Alabama  are  far  superior  to  the  poor  whites  who  lounge  about  the  rail 
way  stations,"  etc.  The  writer  probably  wrote  what  he  imagined  at 
a  thousand  miles  distance. 

The  human  mind  is  plastic  and  adapts  itself  to  its  environment.  It 
is,  therefore,  perfectly  natural  that  the  opinions  of  people  of  the  North 
should  differ  from  the  views  of  those  of  the  South  on  the  negro  ques 
tion.  Neither  are  to  blame  for  their  views,  but  some  of  the  northern 
people  make  the  mistake  of  drawing  conclusions  and  expressing  their 
opinions  on  southern  conditions  which  they  have  never  seen. 

It  is  chiefly  the  people  of  the  northeastern  part  of  the  United  States, 
those  who  have  had  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  foreign  races,  who  are 
the  greatest  sympathizers  of  the  negro.  True,  the  greater  part  of  the 
European  emigration  to  this  country  enters  through  the  ports  of  this 
part  of  the  Union,  but  these  foreigners  are  for  the  most  part  members 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race. 

The  people  of  the  western  part  of  the  country,  who  have  had  to 
contend  with  the  influx  of  Chinese  and  Japanese,  or  those  who  have 
lived  on  the  Indian  frontier,  know  how  to  sympathize  with  the  South 
or  any  other  section  burdened  with  a  foreign  race. 


67 

I  have  known  cowboys  who  would  not  hesitate  an  instant  to  shoot  an 
Indian  for  stealing  a  calf  or  pig,  and  Indians  who  were  afraid  to  leave 
their  reservation  alone  for  fear  of  being  shot  by  rachmen,  who  re 
member  the  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife. 

This  merely  illustrates  the  effect  of  environment  upon  man. 

On  the  evening  of  April  27,  1908,  the  Cosmopolitan  Society  of  New 
York  City  gave  a  banquet  at  Peck's  restaurant,  on  Fulton  street,  in 
which  colored  and  white  people  sat  together  at  each  table.  Editor  Holt, 
in  an  address  at  this  banquet,  advocated  intermarriage  as  a  solution  to 
the  race  problem,  and  was  vociferously  applauded.  He  said,  in  part: 

"When  the  colored  people  get  educated  the  whites  in  the  South  will  have 
to  recognize  them  as  their  equals.  What  must  be  the  remedy?  Intermar 
riage,  if  continued  long  enough,  would  solve  the  race  problem." 

Miss  Mary  White  Ovington  addressed  the  banqueters  as  follows : 

"Move  your  chairs  nearer  together  and  get  up  closer.  I  like  to  think  that 
we  are  going  to  eat  with  and  stand  up  for  our  colored  brothers  and  sisters 
wherever  and  whenever  we  meet  them,  or  wherever  we  can.  We  hope  to 
have  many  such  clubs  soon.  I  believe  it  would  be  a  terrible  state  of  affairs 
when  the  negro  gives  up  any  of  his  rights  as  a  man.  He  should  never  be 
satisfied  until  his  equality  is  recognized." 

Other  similar  addresses  followed. 

This  affair  naturally  became  a  subject  of  comment  throughout  the 
United  States  on  the  following  morning.  Many  prominent  southern 
men  gave  public  expression  to  their  views.  Governor  Swanson  of  Vir 
ginia  commented  on  it  as  follows : 

"It  is  difficult  to  believe  the  accounts  of  the  action  of  the  Cosmopolitan 
Society  of  New  York  at  their  recent  dinner.  It  is  such  disgraceful  perform 
ances  as  these,  and  expression  of  such  views,  that  make  more  difficult  the 
solution  of  the  negro  problem.  The  persons  who  are  most  injured  by  such 
actions  in  the  North  are  the  negro  people  of  the  South. 

"This  matter  is  absolutely  settled  and  admits  of  no  discussion.  The  sooner 
negroes  and  their  pretended  friends  realize  and  understand  this  the  better. 
The  speeches  and  performances  as  reported  can  bring  nothing  but  disgust 
to  reputable  people  of  the  North  and  South,  who  must  entertain  for  such  pro 
ceedings  supreme  contempt." 

Mass-meetings  were  held  among  the  most  respectable  negro  com 
munities  of  the  South  in  charge  of  the  clergymen  of  the  colored 
churches  denouncing  the  action  of  the  Cosmopolitan  Club  of  New  York 
and  the  renewed  race  feeling  and  opposition  which  was  brought  upon 
them  as  a  consequence. 

Unfortunately,  there  was  too  much  in  the  bearing  of  the  people  of 
the  North  to  impress  the  negro  that  he  was  in  all  respects  equal  to  the 
white,  and  therefore  entitled  to  every  privilege  which  they  enjoyed. 
Many  people  from  the  Northern  states,  actuated  by  mistaken  philan- 


68 

thropy,  encouraged  this  idea,  while  in  other  cases  unscrupulous  white 
men  sought  to  increase  their  influence  over  these  deluded  beings  by 
encouraging  them  in  the  belief  of  their  absolute  equality,  if  not  su 
periority,  to  the  southern  whites. 

To  these  teachings  we  can  trace  nearly  all  the  turmoils,  strifes  and 
sufferings  of  the  southern  negro. 

These  mischief-makers,  innocently  for  the  most  part,  have  committed 
this  error :  Instead  of  teaching  the  negro  that  he  must  elevate  himself 
and  better  his  condition  by  personal  effort — by  the  acquisition  of  knowl 
edge  and  by  hard  labor ;  in  other  words,  advancing  his  condition  the 
same  as  has  been  done  by  the  white  race — much  of  the  teaching  has 
been  to  impress  upon  the  negro  that  he  is  already  equal  to  the  whites 
in  every  respect,  and  it  is  his  duty  to  himself  to  asert  this  equality. 

Some  idea  of  the  effect  of  even  a  little  of  such  teaching  can  be  imag 
ined  if  we  consider  the  effect  upon  schoolboys  if  told  they  know  more 
than  their  teachers,  and  that  they  were  unreasonable  and  cruel,  and 
ought  not  to  be  obeyed ;  or  the  effect  upon  soldiers  if  told  the  same  with 
regard  to  their  officers. 

The  negro  should  also  be  impressed  that  the  only  elevation  that  he 
has  received  above  barbarism  has  been  by  associating  with  and  having 
the  advantages  of  the  example  and  teachings  of  the  whites. 

The  two  most  popular  books  on  slavery  and  racial  conditions,  "Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin"  and  "The  Clansman,"  each  represent  but  one  side  of 
the  subject. 

The  majority  of  the  other  books  written  from  either  point  of  view 
are  even  more  one-sided  than  these. 

"Uncle  Tom's  Cabin"  portrays  racial  conditions  of  slavery  times 
from  the  northern  point  of  view  only,  showing  the  worst  side  of  the 
slaveholder  and  the  best  side  of  the  negro.  "The  Clansman"  takes  up 
the  story  where  it  is  dropped  in  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  and  portrays 
the  southern  view.  One  should  read  both  books  to  comprehend  the 
exact  situation. 

Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  received  her  inspiration  to  write  "Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin"  by  watching  some  white  neighbor  children  playing  from 
time  to  time  with  freed  slave  pickaninnies  brought  by  the  Tichenor  and 
Overaker  families  from  New  Orleans  to  Cincinnati.  Topsy,  Black 
Sam,  and  a  few  other  characters  of  the  book  were  taken  from  real  life 
from  among  this  retinue  of  freed  household  servants.  Topsy's  real 
name  was  Joan.  After  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  develop  her  into  a 
reasonable  being  she  drifted  into  the  abandoned  stratum  of  Cincinnati 
life. 

Thomas  Dixon  received  his  inspiration  to  write  "The  Clansman"  by 
observing  southern  conditions  during  the  reconstruction  period  after 
the  war,  and  also  from  reading  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin."  He  wanted  the 
public  to  know  both  sides  of  the  question. 


69 

General  Joseph  Wheeler  once  said,  in  the  New  York  Journal:  "The 
picture  painted  by  'Uncle  Tom's  Cabin'  gave  a  very  distorted  and  in 
correct  view  of  the  condition  of  the  negro  in  the  southern  states.  There 
were,  no  doubt,  instances  of  great  wrong  and  hardship  inflicted  upon 
them.  But  the  general  condition  which  surrounded  the  negro  slave 
was  such  as  to  elevate  him  far  above  the  conditions  which  exist  in  the 
wilds  of  Africa  from  which  he  came." 

During  slavery  times  many  of  the  southern  churches  were  built  with 
galleries  for  the  negro  slaves.  These  galleries  were  rilled  regularly 
every  Sunday,  and  on  Communion  Sundays,  after  the  white  worshipers 
had  finished  their  communion  services,  the  negroes  were  invited  down 
to  partake  of  the  sacrament. 

Not  one  northern  person  in  a  thousand  would  imagine  such  a  condi 
tion  by  reading  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin." 

Northern  people  cannot  understand  the  southern  negro  until  they 
live  for  a  time  in  his  environment. 

Dr.  White,  in  the  First  Mohonk  Congress,  previously  mentioned, 
struck  the  keynote  of  the  situation  when  he  asserted  that  northern  peo 
ple  could  not  manage  the  negroes  as  well  as  the  southerners  do.  At 
the  slightest  misdemeanor  on  the  part  of  a  negro  the  southerner's  blood 
is  up  and  there  is  fire  in  his  eye.  He  shoots  one  square  look  at  the 
negro,  and  if  that  isn't  sufficient,  he  follows  it  up  with  whatever  hap 
pens  to  be  in  his  mind  at  the  time,  and  the  latter  is  ready  to  obey  almost 
any  command.  He  also  has  far  more  respect  for  such  a  white  man 
than  for  one  who  places  himself  on  the  negro's  level. 

So  long  as  the  negroes  were  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  the  people 
who,  by  constant  association  with  them,  had  learned  their  characteris 
tics,  the  question  was  managed  by  methods  beneficial  to  both  races. 
But  in  just  so  far  as  the  destiny  of  the  negro  fell  under  the  control  of 
those  who  were  ignorant  of  his  peculiar  traits  the  troubles  and  turmoil 
seemed  to  commence. 

A  child  has  more  respect  for  its  parents  or  teacher  when  they  enforce 
discipline  or  subordination.  Similarly  the  negro  mind  in  its  stage  of 
development  esteems  more  highly  the  white  man  who  in  a  legitimate 
manner  enforces  submission  and  admits  of  no  equality. 

Southern  hospitality  has  become  proverbial.  I  have  been  enter 
tained  at  many  southern  homes,  and  in  some  instances  where  the  host, 
although  unable  to  pay  his  farm  mortgage,  would  put  an  elaborate 
spread  on  the  dinner  table  that  would  do  honor  to  a  king. 

They  treat  white  men  as  such,  and  negroes  as  a  servant  class. 

As  long  as  a  negro  keeps  his  place  there,  he  is  treated  kindly.  As 
soon  as  he  tries  to  assert  equality  he  meets  with  more  than  hostile 
opposition. 


70 

Where  the  "Jim  Crow"  law  exists  the  negroes  are  generally  sub 
missive  to  the  rules  and  customs,  and  it  is  principally  where  the  negro 
is  made  to  feel  that  he  is  the  white  man's  equal  where  contention  and 
strife  occurs. 

Not  long  ago  Jjfiss  Mary  Bennett,  a  prominent  Washington  society 
lady,  was  riding  on  a  Lincoln  Park  street  car,  when  a  negro  stepped  in, 
and,  although  there  were  several  vacant  seats  in  the  car,  he  sat  down 
right  against  her.  Miss  Bennett  got  up  and  took  another  seat.  A  gen 
tleman  acros  the  aisle,  evidently  from  Kentucky,  clinched  his  fists,  and, 
glaring  at  the  negro,  said:  "It's  well  for  you  that  this  isn't  in  Ken 
tucky." 

The  removal  of  the  ballot-box  from  the  negro  would,  to  a  great  ex 
tent,  relieve  the  situation.  This  should  be  left,  however,  to  the  local 
option  of  each  state.  If  the  negroes  are  then  disfranchised  in  the  South 
and  want  to  vote  bad  enough  to  come  up  and  live  in  the  North,  the 
northern  states  will  very  soon  adopt  local  option  on  this  topic  and  also 
disfranchise  them. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
LOCAL  OPTION  IN  THE:  SOUTH. 

Local  option  in  the  saloon  business  is  ridding  many  counties  of  whis 
key  and  its  adoption  is  rapidly  spreading. 

The  presence  of  8,000,000  negroes  has  operated  as  a  tremendous 
incentive  for  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic  in  the  South.  The  Atlanta 
and  Mississippi  riots  showed  the  dangers  of  the  saloon.  It  was  an 
attractive  social  center  for  the  dangerous  elements  of  the  southern  pop 
ulation — the  lower  levels  of  both  races.  Following  the  racial  lines 
from  top  to  bottom,  they  converged  at  the  saloon,  which  was  situated 
in  the  acute  angle  of  this  inverted  social  pyramid.  When  they  had 
been  closed  for  a  week  in  Atlanta,  the  better  class  of  whites  thought, 
why  not  for  a  year?  Or  forever?  The  liquor  traffic  fostered  and 
encouraged  the  depraved  and  criminal  negro  and  the  vengeful  and  irre 
sponsible  white.  Of  both  the  South  is  tired. 

Prohibition  in  that  section  in  the  civic  program  as  a  final  policy 
is  an  exhibition  of  rare  moral  courage,  an  innovation  in  Anglo-Saxon 
human  nature,  in  which  the  liquor  traffic  has  always  found  a  responsive 
chord. 

Thousands  of  whites  who  keep  whiskey  and  wines  in  their  homes 
continually,  voted  for  local  option  to  prevent  the  negroes  from  obtain 
ing  it.  The  negroes,  for  the  most  part,  voted  against  prohibition,  and 
were  defeated. 

In  1883  Col.  Archie  Hughes,  of  Columbia,  Tennessee,  who  was  an 
officer  in  the  Spanish- American  war,  helped  round  up  and  conduct  500 
illiterate  negroes  to  the  pools  and  voted  them  against  local  option,  thus 
defeating  the  temperance  cause  in  that  district  for  the  time  being. 

In  a  vote  taken  on  May  12,  1908,  in  Prince  Georges  County,  Md. 
(in  the  "wet"  districts  only),  the  question  of  local  option  was  defeated 
by  266  votes  (1,688  to  1,422).  The  negro  vote  defeated  the  movement, 
as  the  majority  of  votes  cast  against  the  local  option  proposition  are 
known  to  have  been  negro  votes,  while  nine-tenths  of  the  vote  cast  by 
white  men  were  in  favor  of  it. 

In  some  of  the  southern  districts  a  number  of  the  negroes  were 
driven  from  the  polls  during  the  local  option  vote.  I  consider  this  jus 
tifiable  where  it  was  the  necessary  means  to  obtain  prohibition  of  the 
sale  of  intoxicating  liquors.  On  such  vital  points  on  which  depends  the 


72 

welfare  of  the  American  homes,  the  negro  should  not  be  allowed  to 
interfere. 

"Locker  Clubs"  were  formed  by  the  saloonkeepers  and  their  cus 
tomers  in  many  of  the  local  option  districts. 

In  the  city  of  Savannah  alone  147  of  these  secret  dram  drinkers'  dens 
were  organized  the  day  after  prohibition  went  into  effect,  and  one  of 
these  included  1,700  negroes. 

Finally  Judge  Emory  Speer,  one  of  the  ablest  United  States  judges 
in  the  South,  handed  clown  a  decision  in  Savannah  that  these  lockers 
were  illegal,  and  the  owners  subject  to  the  penalties  of  any  seller  of 
intoxicating  liquors. 

There  are  still  a  few  out-of-the-way  places  in  local  option  districts 
where  men  may  sneak  away  and  obtain  whiskey,  but  these  are  van 
ishing. 

While  riding  through  a  local  option  district  in  the  South  last  spring 
I  saw  three  negroes  with  several  jugs  get  off  the  train  at  a  little  station 
and  walk  off  toward  an  old  barn  in  the  woods.  A  traveling  man  told 
me  that  they  were  going  out  there  for  whiskey,  the  sale  of  which  was 
prohibited  in  their  district. 

Wine,  containing  alcohol,  is  now  forbidden  at  sacramental  services  in 
the  churches  of  Georgia,  and  certain  other  temperance  districts  of  the 
South. 

Since  prohibition  went  into  effect  in  the  South  not  a  financial  failure 
has  been  accredited  to  the  new  reform. 

Not  a  dollar  has  been  dropped  from  the  value  of  real  estate. 

The  saloons  have  been  turned  into  stores  and  marts  of  fashion  or 
trade.  Many  a  low  den  has  been  turned  into  commercial  lines  of 
activity,  and  the  per  cent  of  crime,  including  the  negro  assaults  on 
women,  has  been  greatly  reduced. 

We  have  reason  to  expect  good  results  from  local  option ;  much  bet 
ter  results  than  from  prohibition  as  a  national  issue.  If  the  southern 
states  had  waited  to  elect  a  President  of  the  United  States  on  a  pro 
hibition  ticket,  they  might  have  waited  until  the  millennium  for  tem 
perance.  Any  given  locality  knows  better  than  the  rest  of  the  nation 
what  it  needs,  and  their  situation  should  command  the  attention  and 
respect  of  the  remainder  of  the  country. 


73 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
REFERENCES  FROM  THE  DAILY  PRESS. 

One  need  only  read  the  southern  newspapers  to  learn  of  the  unlawful 
work  of  the  night  riders,  moonshiners,  and  other  organizations  of 
whites,  lynching,  or  shooting  some  negro  who  has  assaulted  a  white  girl 
or  committed  some  outrage.  Scarcely  a  day  goes  by  but  what  even 
some  of  the  northern  daily  papers  give  an  account  of  trouble  between 
the  whites  and  the  negroes ;  usually  a  negro  crime  avenged  by  a  white 
mob.  I  will  insert  only  a  very  few  such  notices  taken  from  recent 
daily  papers : 

Washington  Herald: 

Galveston,  Tex.,  June  23,  1908. 

The  first  trouble  between  the  whites  and  the  blacks  in  Sabine  county, 
the  earliest  settled  county  in  Texas,  has  resulted  in  a  determination  on 
the  part  of  the  whites  that  the  large  population  of  negroes  must  imme 
diately  immigrate. 

Following  the  lynching  of  ten  negroes  and  the  beating  of  fifty  more 
yesterday,  notices  were  issued  that  every  negro  must  leave  the  county 
under  penalty  of  death.  A  dozen  or  more  white  men,  charged  with 
having  instigated  the  negro  depredations  and  murders,  were  included 
in  the  edict.  Newton  and  San  Augustine  counties  joined  Sabine  in  its 
crusade  against  the  blacks.  More  than  1,000  negroes  crossed  the  lines 
to-day,  most  of  them  going  to  Louisiana.  The  militia  and  State  rangers 
attempted  to  persuade  the  white  men  from  this  action,  but  were  over 
whelmed  and  had  to  confine  their  work  to  preventing  open  fights. 

Arms  were  found  in  every  negro  cabin,  and  these  were  confiscated 
by  the  State  rangers.  About  twenty  or  more  young  negroes  who  re 
sisted  being  driven  across  the  line  were  cowhided. 

Washington  Evening  Star: 

Way  Cross,  Ga.,  June  27,  1908. 

Just  at  sundown  this  afternoon  two  negroes  were  lynched  by  a  mob 
of  at  least  1,000  persons.  The  lynching  occurred  on  the  eastern  out 
skirts  of  the  city.  The  negroes  were  Walter  Wilkins  and  Albert 
Baker,  who  were  brought  here  this  morning  from  Wayne  county,  one 
of  them  charged  with  assaulting  the  fourteen-year-old  daughter  of  Mr. 
Wiley  Wainwright  Thursday  evening. 

The  negroes  were  lodged  in  the  Ware  county  jail  during  the  day, 
and  late  this  afternoon  were  taken  out  by  Wayne  county  officers  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  them  to  Jesup  for  safekeeping.  Suddenly  a 
rush  was  made  and  a  dozen  hands  clasped  each  officer  and  his  gun. 


74 


The  negroes  were  jerked  across  the  railroad  track  and  a  hundred 
persons  pounced  upon  them,  others  still  holding  the  guards. 

Through  the  wire  fence  of  the  railroad  the  mob  shoved  the  negroes 
and  then  started  in  a  run  across  College  Hill. 

For  nearly  half  a  mile  they  continued  to  the  first  oak  tree  in  the  old 
Cherokee  nursery.  Here  an  attempt  was  made  to  break  the  handcuffs 
which  held  the  negroes  together,  but  without  avail. 

No  one  had  a  rope,  but  a  heavy  trace  chain  which  was  locked  around 
one  of  the  negroes  was  broken  apart  and  a  loop  was  soon  made  around 
his  neck.  Some  one  mounted  the  tree,  and  from  the  first  limb  caught 
the  end  of  the  chain,  tying  it  around  the  limb,  while  others  held  the 
alleged  assailant  of  the  girl  up  from  the  ground.  He  was  then  turned 
loose,  his  feet  about  two  feet  from  the  ground.  The  other  negro,  still 
handcuffed  to  the  body  of  the  hanging  man,  stood  with  hands  clasped 
around  the  tree.  The  mob,  stepping  back  about  ten  paces,  opened  fire 
upon  the  men,  hundreds  of  shots  being  fired  into  the  bodies. 

Many  tried  to  prevent  the  killing  of  the  negro,  who  was  clasping  the 
tree,  there  being  much  doubt  about  his  connection  with  the  outrage. 
Nothing  could  be  done  with  the  enraged  mob. 

After  the  lynching  the  mob  dispersed.  The  crime  occurred  near  the 
home  of  Wiley  Wainwright  Thursday  night. 

The  negro  Albert  Baker  was  arrested  yesterday  morning  and  carried 
before  the  girl  for  identification.  He  was  with  several  other  negroes  at 
the  time,  and  she  readily  pointed  him  out. 

Washington  Post: 

ANNAPOLIS,  MD.,  March  10,  1908. 

In  the  senate  to-night  Senator  Linthicum,  of  Baltimore,  read  a  letter  he 
had,  threatening  death  for  introducing  a  bill  for  the  separation  of  negroes 
and  white  people  in  electric  cars.  It  is  signed  "Negro,"  and  its  concluding 
paragraph  is  as  follows: 

"Deprivation  and  such  outrages  you  urchins  are  making  upon  us  will 
drive  up  to  anything.  The  poor  of  Russia  and  other  countries  have  existed 
only  through  continued  murder  of  some  member  responsible  for  the  law 
that  kept  them  in  serfdom.  Now,  this  is  what  we  intend  to  do  with  you 
and  Ike  Strauss  unless  you  cease  at  once  to  advocate  your  bills.  It  is  better 
that  a  few  men  die  than  a  whole  race  perish." 

Washington  Post: 

PADUCAH,  KY.,  March  10,  1908. 

Masked  night  riders,  100  strong,  entered  the  town  of  Birmingham,  Marshall 
county,  Kentucky,  early  this  morning,  shot  and  killed  a  little  negro  girl, 
wounded  her  father  and  four  members  of  his  family,  and  whipped  five  other 
negroes. 

The  riders  took  possession  of  the  town  and  shot  into  every  negro  cabin 
in  the  place.  In  one  of  these,  John  Scruggs,  his  wife,  and  three  children, 
and  a  granddaughter,  were  struck  by  bullets.  Scruggs'  two-year-old  daugh 
ter  is  dead ;  he  and  two  other  members  of  his  family  fatally  wounded. 

Washington  Herald: 

March  12,  1908. 

Miss  Mamie  Wright,  of  915  Sixth  street  southwest,  reported  to  the  police 
that  last  night  about  9.15  o'clock,  while  she  was  walking  in  Seventh  street 
southwest,  a  negro  grabbed  her  purse  containing  $4.26. 


75 

The  young  woman  said  she  was  returning  from  a  shopping  tour,  and  was 
between  H  and  I  streets,  on  Seventh  street  southwest,  when  a  negro  jumped 
from  behind  a  treebox,  and,  grabbing  her  by  the  arm,  wrested  her  purse 
from  her.  She  screamed. 

The  negro  pushed  her  away  when  she  tried  to  grapple  with  him  and  fled 
through  an  alley,  she  says. 

Miss  Wright  describes  the  negro  as  of  medium  height,  and  intensely  black. 
She  says  he  was  wearing  torn  and  dirty  overalls. 

Washington  Herald: 

LYNCHBURG,  VA.,  March  27,  1908. 

George  Twitty,  a  hard-working  negro  farmer,  who  lived  in  the  lower  end 
of  Campbell  county,  Virginia,  was  taken  to  the  woods  nearby  by  three  men 
and  nearly  beaten  to  death.  He  managed  to  escape,  but  while  he  was  running 
two  shots  struck  him  in  the  back.  He  died  Wednesday,  after  making  a 
statement,  the  import  of  which  is  withheld  pending  an  investigation. 

Washington  Herald: 

TAZEWEU,,  VA.,  March  27,  1908. 

Walter  Rippey,  the  negro  assailant,  was  hanged  in  the  jail  yard  this  morn 
ing.  Death  ensued  in  a  few  minutes  after  the  trap  was  sprung.  The  negro 
made  a  short  speech  in  front  of  the  jail. 

It  is  estimated  that  500  persons,  among  the  number  being  seven  women, 
were  on  the  outside  of  the  inclosure. 

The  crime  for  which  Rippey  was  hanged  was  assault  on  Mrs.  Mary 
Dancey,  a  young  widow,  near  Pocahontas,  on  the  afternoon  of  February  13. 
The  woman  was  returning  from  a  shopping  visit  to  Pocahontas,  carrying 
her  two-year-old  baby  in  her  arms.  The  negro  threatened  to  kill  the  baby, 
and  thus  forced  her  to  accompany  him. 

Baltimore  Sun: 

Annapolis,  Md.,  May  14,  1908. 

One  marine  was  shot  in  the  leg  and  another  had  his  ear  grazed  by  a 
bullet  during  a  clash  between  about  fifty  sailors  and  marines  on  one  side  and 
nearly  that  number  of  negroes  on  the  other  to-night  at  Annapolis. 

A  miniature  battle,  with  all  the  weapons  on  the  negroes'  side,  was  fought 
with  considerable  liveliness  until  the  arrival  of  the  police,  who  did  quick 
work  in  quelling  what  might  have  been  a  serious  riot. 

The  affray  took  place  at  9.30  P.  M..  and  the  battleground  was  in  front  of 
a  row  of  negro  houses  known  as  Buzzards'  Roost,  located  at  the  edge  of  the 
town,  along  the  tracks  of  the  Baltimore  and  Annapolis  Short  Line.  It  is  said 
the  trouble  started  over  the  taking  of  a  sailor's  hat  by  a  negro.  The  sailors 
and  marines  had  been  drinking,  it  is  said,  and  a  group  of  them  came  upon  a 
number  of  negroes  near  Buzzards'  Roost. 

The  marines  and  sailors  say  that  the  negroes  attempted  to  sandbag  sev 
eral  of  their  number.  They  called  to  their  comrades  for  help,  and  when  a 
ne^ro  ran  with  a  sailor's  hat  a  general  fight  followed.  A  number  of  shots 
were  fired  by  the  blacks,  and  many  bricks  and  stones  were  thrown.  None 
of  the  sailors  and  marines  were  armed.  The  firing  attracted  a  large  crowd, 
and  the  police  were  highly  praised  for  the  dispatch  with  which  they  dispersed 
the  antagonists. 

Several  marines  were  arrested,  but  the  blacks  all  escaped.  The  wounded 
marine  was  hurried  away  by  his  comrades. 


76 

Washington  Herald: 

March  22,  1908. 

James  Thomas  Heflin,  representative  in  Congress  from  the  Fifth  Alabama 
district,  an  ardent  temperance  advocate,  in  company  with  Mr.  Ellerbe, 
boarded  a  Capital  Traction  car  in  front  of  the  Raleigh  Hotel.  There  were 
six  or  seven  other  persons  in  the  car,  including  women. 

When  the  car  passed  Seventh  street,  Lundy,  a  negro,  took  a  flask  of 
whiskey  from  his  pocket  and  placed  it  to  his  lips. 

Heflin  remonstrated  with  him  about  drinking  in  a  public  car  in  the  pres 
ence  of  ladies.  The  negro  replied  with  an  oath. 

Ellerbe  left  the  car  in  front  of  the  Metropolitan  Hotel.  Heflin  was  still 
arguing  with  the  negro. 

The  car  had  just  crossed  Sixth  street,  when  the  negro  is  said  to  have 
grabbed  the  congressman  by  the  lapel  of  his  coat.  Heflin  then  drew  his 
revolver,  and,  holding  the  negro  close  against  him,  fired. 

The  bullet  grazed  the  negro,  went  through  the  window,  and  struck  Thomas 
McCreery,  who  was  standing  in  front  of  the  St.  James  Hotel.  Heflin  then 
hit  the  negro  over  the  head  with  the  butt  of  the  gun  and  pushed  him  to  the 
door.  He  then  kicked  him  to  the  pavement. 

The  negro  staggered  upon  hitting  the  ground  and  began  to  curse  and 
abuse  the  congressman.  Heflin  reached  through  a  window  and  fired  at  the 
negro. 

At  the  time  of  the  shooting  Heflin  was  on  his  way  to  the  Metropolitan 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  at  Four-and-a-half  and  C  streets  northwest,  to 
deliver  a  lecture  there  on  the  subject  of  "Temperance."  Five  hundred  or 
more  men  and  women  had  gathered  and  were  awaiting  for  his  arrival  and 
lecture. 

When  they  heard  he  had  been  arrested  and  was  held  by  the  police  on  a 
charge  of  shooting  a  negro  with  intent  to  kill  they  beat  a  precipitate  and 
rather  disorganized  retreat  from  the  church.  None  of  them,  as  far  as  could 
be  learned,  called  at  the  station  house  to  see  if  they  could  do  anything  to 
help  him. 

Washington  Herald: 

April  i,  1908. 

Miss  Carrie  Jenkins,  twenty-two  years  old,  of  1719  Thirteenth  street  north 
west,  was  robbed  of  her  pocketbook  at  8.30  o'clock  last  night,  within  a  block 
of  her  home,  after  being  brutally  attacked  by,  a  negro. 

The  man  grabbed  Miss  Jenkins  by  the  tljjroat  as  she  passed  an  alley  on 
Riggs  street,  only  half  a  block  from  her  liome  on  Thirteenth  street.  He 
knocked  her  to  the  ground,  and,  still  clutching  her  throat,  beat  her  head 
against  the  sidewalk  until  she  was  all  but  unconscious.  He  then  wrenched 
her  purse,  containing  her  month's  salary,  minus  a  few  dollars,  from  t  her 
hand,  and  ran  through  an  alley. 

Although  descriptions  of  the  negro  were  sent  to  every  station  house  in  the 
city  and  several  central  office  detectives  were  set  to  work  on  the  case,  the 
purse-snatcher  had  not  been  arrested  at  an  early  hour  this  morning.  One 
policeman,  on  duty  near  the  scene  of  the  crime,  declared  that  he  saw  the 
negro  some  time  after  the  outrage,  but  was  unable  to  arrest  him. 

After  telling  her  story  to  Policeman  Wheeler,  Miss  Jenkins  was  too 
nervous  to  talk  further  of  the  affair.  Her  throat  still  bore  the  imprint  of 
the  negro's  fingers,  and  the  back  of  her  head  was  swollen  and  bruised  from 
contact  with  the  sidewalk. 

The  description  given  by  Miss  Jenkins  tallies  in  several  particulars  with 
that  given  of  a  negro  who  robbed  Mrs.  McKeever  of  a  suit  case  on  a 


Seventh  street  car  yesterday,  and  also  tallies  with  that  of  a  negro  who 
snatched  a  purse  from  a  white  woman  in  the  crowded  downtown  section 
last  Saturday  evening. 

Miss  Wharton,  matron  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Association,  said  to  a 
reporter  for  the  Washington  Herald  last  night: 

"I  feel  awfully  sorry  for  the  poor  girl,  for,  besides  her  physical  injuries, 
shock,  and  nervousness,  she  lost  every  cent  she  had  in  the  world.  She 
works  hard  for  her  money,  and  had  had  the  benefit  of  only  something  less 
than  a  dollar,  having  just  sent  $5  away  to  relatives." 

Washington  Herald: 

April  13,  1908. 

Telephone  messages  were  received  at  police  headquarters  last  night  from 
an  officer  at  Indian  Head,  Md.,  who  wanted  trained  bloodhounds. 

The  officer  told  Lieutenant  Peck,  who  answered  the  telephone  call,  that 
a  white  woman  had  been  attacked  by  a  negro  and  left  in  a  critical  condition. 
He  said  the  negro  had  escaped,  and  that  bloodhounds  were  wanted  to  assist 
in  the  capture  of  the  fugitive. 

Lieutenant  Peck  was  unable  to  get  further  information  from  the  Indian 
Head  officer.  He  was  unable,  also,  to  comply  with  the  request  to  furnish 
bloodhounds,  as  none  are  available  in  Washington,  so  far  as  known,  for  that 
purpose. 

Such  racial  crimes  which  are  of  daily  occurrence  in  the  southern 
states,  and  a  disgrace  to  civilization,  cannot  be  suppressed  by  enforcing 
equality  laws  without  creating  an  exceedingly  grave  crisis. 

It  would,  therefore,  be  advantageous  for  both  races  if  the  negroes 
would  consent  to  colonization. 

Disfranchising  the  illiterate  and  non-property  holder,  as  has  been 
done  in  the  South,  might  stimulate  this  movement.  This  has  proved 
advantageous  for  the  welfare  of  that  section,  and  it  undoubtedly  would 
elsewhere. 

The  intelligent  mulatto,  however,  has  an  inherited  right  to  suffrage, 
but  should  be  compelled  to  meet  the  educational  requirements.  Dr. 
E.  A.  Alderman,  president  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  says:  "The 
South  is  pursuing  a  far-sighted  policy  of  justice,  both  to  the  negro 
and  to  the  white  man." 


78 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

WHAT  HAS  BEEN  ACCOMPLISHED  IN   COLONIZING  THE  AMERICAN 

NEGRO  IN  AFRICA  ? 

Liberia  was  founded  in  1820  by  the  American  Colonization  Society, 
an  organization  of  American  philanthropists  who  tried  the  experiment 
of  colonizing  freed  negroes  who  wished  to  enjoy  political  and  social 
privileges  denied  them  in  the  United  States. 

The  sum  of  about  three  million  dollars  was  contributed  and  put  into 
the  scheme.  About  13,000  colored  people  were  aided  in  migrating  from 
the  United  States  to  Liberia  from  1820  to  1847. 

Many  difficulties  inseparable  from  such  an  undertaking  were  bravely 
overcome. 

At  an  annual  meeting  of  the  society  in  1824,  upon  a  motion  of  Gen. 
Robert  G.  Harper  of  Maryland,  the  colonial  territory  was  named  Li 
beria,  signifying  a  country  for  freedmen.  Its  future  capital  Monrovia 
was  named  in  honor  of  James  Monroe,  who  was  at  that  time  President 
of  the  United  States. 

In  1847  the  colony  organized  a  government  upon  a  similar  basis  to 
that  of  the  United  States,  the  president  and  vice-president,  however, 
being  elected  every  two  years. 

They  have  a  senate  and  house  of  representatives,  cabinet,  justices, 
local  magistrates,  supreme  and  lower  courts,  and  a  modern  system  of 
universal  suffrage,  with  secret  ballot. 

The  government  is  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Americo-Liberians. 
no  white  man  being  permitted  to  own  land  in  the  republic. 

Every  town  and  village  has  its  school,  and  in  Monrovia  is  located 
the  West-African  College,  whose  president,  Rev.  R.  B.  Richardson,  is 
an  Americo-Liberian. 

The  laws  under  which  the  colony,  or  republic,  as  it  became  in  1847, 
has  been  governed,  were  framed  by  Mr.  Thomas  Dixon,  Sr.,  of  the 
colonization  society.  He  also  framed  their  currency  system,  which 
has  since  been  revised.  When  the  movement  first  started  the  colonists 
could  not  read,  and  it  became  necessary  to  provide  a  currency  desig 
nating  varying  amounts  by  plainer  means  than  numbers.  Pictures 
were  therefore  used  in  the  following  manner: 


79 

The  smallest  paper  money,  six  cents,  was  distinguished  by  a  picture 
of  one  duck.  The  picture  of  two  ducks  on  a  note  represented  twelve 
cents.  Chickens  were  valued  at  a  higher  rate  than  ducks.  A  note 
with  the  picture  of  one  chicken  represented  twenty-five  cents,  and  that 
with  two  chickens  fifty  cents. 

For  several  years  the  state  of  Maryland  and  various  philanthropic 
societies  of  different  states  made  annual  appropriations  for  the  main 
tenance  of  the  colony.  About  $100,000  were  annually  contributed  to 
this  cause  until  1847,  when  the  amount  began  to  decrease.  There  are 
no  contributions  now.  The  freed  negro  was  one  of  the  problems  of 
that  generation,  and  this  colony  was  looked  upon  as  the  means  of  solv 
ing  it. 

In  the  days  of  deepest  interest  in  the  colonization  movement  several 
prominent  Marylanclers,  influenced  by  conscientious  motives,  freed 
their  slaves  and  paid  their  passage  over  to  Liberia.  Labor  was  diffi 
cult  to  obtain  at  that  time,  and  many  of  those  who  freed  their  slaves 
did  so  with  great  personal  sacrifice  and  financial  loss.  Mr.  Daniel  Mur 
ray,  of  Elkridge,  whose  estate  became  unprofitable  through  inability  to 
obtain  laborers  after  freeing  his  slaves,  was  compelled  to  teach  school 
to  support  himself  and  family.  Miss  Margaret  Mercer,  of  West  River, 
who  had  been  left  with  a  large  estate  and  many  slaves,  also  freed  every 
one  of  them,  and  paid  their  way  to  Liberia.  She  was  unable  to  secure 
labor  on  her  plantation,  and  her  income  became  so  reduced  that  she,  too, 
resorted  to  school  teaching  as  a  means  of  maintenance. 

In  a  paper  read  before  the  Maryland  Historical  Society,  March  9, 
1885,  by  John  H.  B.  Latrobe,  then  president  of  the  society  in  Baltimore, 
I  find  the  following  summary  of  commercial  facts,  as  they  relate  to  the 
city  of  Baltimore  alone,  during  the  thirty  years  of  the  society's  active 
connection  with  the  colony  (Maryland),  for  which  it  stood  sponsor. 
These  I  have  arranged  after  the  following  manner : 

1.  Shipments  required  for  the  use  of  the  colony  and  for  the  trade  con 
nected  with  it,  upward  of  $1,000,000. 

2.  Shipments  for  the  American  Colonization  Society,  half  a  million  more. 

3.  Built  in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  under  the  auspices  of  the  state  society, 
eight  vessels  for  the  trade,  at  a  cost  of  $113,000. 

4.  Bought  for  the  trade,  vessels  already  built,  at  a  cost  of  $22,000,  making 
a  total  of  $135,000  for  the  construction  and  purchase  of  ships. 

5.  Sailed  from  the  port  of  Baltimore,  in  addition  to  the  foregoing,  under 
the  auspices  of  both  the  Maryland  state  society  and  the  parent  society  at 
Washington,  52  chartered  vessels.     As  a  basis  for  calculation,  the  charter  of 
each  is  put  down  at  $3,000,  thus  making  a  lump  sum  of  $156,000  for  the 
charter  of  vessels  alone  sailing  from  Baltimore.     To  this  add  the  cost  of 
vessels  built  and  bought  by  the  state  society  for  its  operation  in  Liberia,  and 
we  will  have  the  aggregate  of  $291,000.     It  is  estimated  from  the  books  of 
the  society  that  from  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1831,  which  marks  the  dawn 
of  the  society's  operation,  to  the  absorption  of  the  colony  of  Maryland  by 
Liberia  proper,  in  1851,  twenty  years  thereafter,  about  $2,000,000  were  spent 
under  the  auspices  of  Maryland  alone. 


80 

The  loss  of  the  trade  in  the  colony,  and  in  Liberia  proper,  is  due  not 
so  much  to  the  withdrawal  of  colonial  authority  as  to  the  withdrawal 
of  maritime  communication  by  American  ships.  The  revival  of  our 
merchant  marine  will  bring  with  it  a  revival  of  American  trade  along 
the  whole  West  African  coast. 

The  Republic  of  Liberia  is  located  on  the  coast  of  Upper  Guinea  be 
tween  the  parallels  of  4  and  7  north  latitude,  reaching  from  the  Mannoh 
river  on  the  north,  boundary  between  Sierra  Leone  and  Liberia,  to  the 
Cavalla  on  the  south,  embracing  a  remarkably  fine  coast  line  of  about 
500  miles  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  thence  eastward  to  the  King  Moun 
tains,  a  distance  of  about  300  miles. 

Out  of  a  total  population  of  about  2,500,000,  only  25,000  are  Amer 
ico-Liberians,  the  remainder,  for  the  most  part,  being  aborigines. 
These  latter  are  divided  into  many  sovereign  tribes,  having  their  own 
territory,  language  and  government.  The  more  important  of  these  are 
the  Veys,  Deys,  Golahs,  Mombas,  Queahs,  Pesseys,  Bassas,  and  the 
Kroos.  Their  language,  habits,  and  dress  are,  of  course,  far  inferior 
to  those  of  the  Americo-Liberians.  The  latter  are  the  only  Christians 
in  the  republic. 

Coffee,  rubber,  and  palm  oil  are  the  chief  exportations  from  Liberia. 
Coffee  grows  wild  and  is  also  cultivated  by  the  Americo-Liberians,  and 
the  rubber  forests  are  extensive.  These  are  a  source  of  considerable 
revenue. 

Several  species  of  cattle,  sheep,  buffalo,  deer,  and  antelope  are  found 
there. 

Many  of  the  houses  are  built  of  brick,  with  verandas,  large  windows, 
and  bedrooms.  As  a  whole  they  are  far  superior  to  the  average  negro 
houses  of  America.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  best  class  of  ne 
groes  were  colonized  there,  and  under  American  management.  A  tele 
phone  system  and  many  other  modern  conveniences  were  also  estab 
lished  in  Monrovia  by  the  colonization  society. 

Although  the  colony  was  composed  of  the  better  class  of  American 
negroes,  many  of  them  being  mulattoes,  occasionally  a  "black  sheep" 
slipped  into  the  bunch,  of  which  the  following  is  an  example : 

One  family  sent  a  negro  boy  Jim,  whom  they  considered  worthless, 
and  imagined  that  he  would  relapse  into  barbarism.  A  few  years  later 
a  war  vessel  off  the  coast  of  Liberia  sent  a  boat  load  of  sailors  ashore 
for  water.  The  latter  encountered  a  band  of  half-naked  blacks,  who 
brandished  spears  and  looked  extremely  unfriendly.  The  sailors  ac 
cordingly  displayed  their  rifles  and  would  have  dispersed  the  natives 
had  not  their  leader  shouted  in  plain  English :  "Don't  shoot,  boss ;  we 
won't  hurt  you !"  The  sailors  were  sure  from  what  they  knew  of  Jim 
that  he  was  the  leader  of  that  crowd. 


81 

some  time  after  the  colony  was  established  more  or  less  ill- 
feeling  existed  between  the  native  blacks  and  the  Americo-Liberians. 
This  has  been  overcome  and  perfect  harmony  has  prevailed  ever  since. 

In  1861  the  United  States  Department  of  the  Interior  entered  into 
contract  with  the  American  Colonization  Society  to  support  for  one 
year  about  5,000  Africans  who  had  been  recaptured  on  the  high  seas  by 
armed  United  States  vessels.  One  hundred  dollars  a  year  was  appro 
priated  for  the  support  of  each  of  these  negroes  above  eight  years  of 
age,  and  fifty  dollars  a  year  for  every  one  under  that  age. 

The  Act,  approved  June  16,  1860,  prohibiting  slave  trade  in  the 
United  States,  had  thus  been  violated,  and  such  was  tMkost  of  enforc 
ing  the  law  regarding  it. 

The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  principal  Americo-Liberia  towns 
and  settlements,  with  their  approximate  populations.  The  enumeration 
commences  with' 'Roberts  Port,  not  far  from  the  western  (Sierra 
Leone)  frontier  of  Liberia,  and  proceeds  northward,  southward,  and 
eastward  to  the  French  frontier  along  the  Kavalli  river: 


82 


County  of  Montser- 
rado: 

Roberts  Port 

Americo- 
I^iberian 
Population 

400 
50 

200 
200 
300 
400 
100 
50 
300 
250 
300 
400 
100 
150 
150 
250 

Brought  forward  

Coast  between  Grand  Basa 
and  River  Ses 

50 
100 
350 
125 
125 

100 
500 
100 
50 
100 
50 
50 
50 
75 
25 
100 
25 
25 

Americo 
Siberian 
Population 

8.850 

150 
50 

750 
150 

1,250 
150 

Royesville  

On  the  River  Ses  

St.  Paul's  River  Settle 
ments  : 

New  Georgia  .  .          .... 

County  of  Sino  : 

Sino  Settlements  : 
Sino  River  

Caldwell 

lyCxington.. 

Brewerville  

Greenville  

Clay  Ashland 

Philadelphia  ...:  
Georgia 

lyOisiana 

New  York-           

Settlements  on  Kru  Coast  : 
Nana  Kru. 

White  Plains 

Millsburg  

Arthington  . 

Careysburg 

Crozierville  

Sete  Kru  
Nifu  
Sas  Town                        .  . 

Benson  ville 

Roberts  ville 

Harrisburg              ..  . 

Ga  ra  we  

Settlements   around  Cape 
Palmas  and  on  the  lower 
Kavalli  River  : 

Rock  Town  .                 

Settlements  on  the  Mesura- 
do  River  : 

3,150 

200 
2,500 

225 
150 
125 

300 

Harper 

Gardeners  ville 

Philadelphia  

Johnson  ville 

l,atrobe 

Pay  nes  ville  .  . 

Cuttington  
Half  Kavalli  

Monrovia  
Junk  River  Settlements  : 

Schiefflin  and    Powells- 
ville 

Middlesex  

Jacksonville                  

Bunker  Hill  
Tubman  Town  
New  Georgia 

Mount  Olive 

Hillierville  

Marshall  

Americo-Iyiberians  scattered 
about  I^elipo  in  far  inter 
ior  of  Maryland  County; 
in    the    Boporo  County, 
near  the  Sierra  I^eoue 
frontier,  and  on  the  up 
per  St.  Paul's  River  .etc., 

Farmington    River   and 
Owen's  Grove  

County  of  Grand  Basa  : 
Basa  Settlements  : 
lyittle  Basa 

800 

50 
250 
50 
350 
400 
600 
50 

Edina  

Total  Siberians  of  American  origin...     11,350 

Hartford  

St.  John's  River  
Upper  Buchanan 

lyOwer  Buchanan  (Basa) 
Tobakoni  

Carried  forward  

1,750 

8,850 

83 


Port  of  Import 

United 
States 

England 

Holland 

Germany 

All  other 
Countries 

Total 

Monrovia.... 

8 

332 

4 

744 

56 

1  144 

Marshall  

16 

16 

G,  C.  Mount  . 

156 

112 

268 

Grand  Bassa 

4 

380 

12 

148 

8 

552 

River  Cess  

12 

12 

Sinoe 

84 

32 

116 

Maryland 

72 

36 

108 

Total  

12 

1,036 

16 

1,088 

64 

2,216 

Value 


Port  of  Import 

United 
States 

England 

Holland 

Germany 

All  Other 
Countries 

Total 

Monrovia 

$  16 

$12  308 

$528 

$33  504 

2  612 

*AQ   V\8 

Marshall  

*200 

200 

G.  C.  Mount.. 

8  716 

4  880 

13  596 

Grand  Bassa 

224 

20  368 

436 

3  756 

320 

River  Cess  

756 

756 

Sinoe  

4,048 

8% 

4  944 

Maryland  

2,152 

1,124 

3,276 

Total  

$240 

$48,348 

$964 

$44,360 

$2,932 

$96,244 

This  table  is  a  sad  commentary  upon  the  loss  of  our  commercial 
prestige  not  only  in  Liberia,  but  on  all  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  as  will 
be  seen  by  what  follows  relating  to  the  large  commercial  transaction 
once  carried  on  between  Maryland  county,  one  of  the  four  divisions 
of  the  Republic  of  Liberia,  and  the  city  of  Baltimore,  wherein  lived 
the  society  whose  efforts  in  the  colonization  of  free  American  colored 
people  resulted  in  the  birth  of  the  African  colony,  then  known  as 
"Maryland  in  Liberia."  The  relinquishment  of  active  authority  in  the 
colony  by  the  society  was  followed  by  an  abandonment  of  commercial 
relations  with  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  the  trade,  which 
up  to  that  time  had  reached  the  million  mark,  was  transferred  to 
European  markets. 

On  May  23,  1908,  five  delegates  from  Liberia — G.  W.  Gibson,  for 
merly  president  of  the  republic;  James  Dawson,  vice-president  of  Li 
beria;  Charles  B.  Dunbar,  an  attorney;  A.  T.  Faulkner,  and  Charles 
Branch,  citizens  of  Monrovia — arrived  in  Washington  to  confer  with 
President  Roosevelt  regarding  encroachments  of  England  and  France 
over  the  boundary  lines  of  Liberia.  They  also  wished  to  stimulate 
action  toward  establishing  direct  trade  relations  between  the  United 
States  and  Liberia. 


84 

Mr.  Dunbar  told  me  that  they  would  like  to  have  the  United  States 
guarantee  them  an  independent  republic.  He  said  that  the  excuse 
offered  by  England  and  France  for  breaking  former  treaties  and  con- 
fiscating  territory  within  the  Liberian  boundaries  was  that  warring 
tribes  were  not  being  controlled,  and  that  sufficient  developments  of 
the  country  were  not  being  made  by  the  Liberian  government.  They, 
therefore,  had  to  take  it  upon  themselves. 

This  is  true  to  a  great  extent,  but  it  was  evidently  not  entirely  for 
beneficent  purposes  that  these  nations  assumed  the  undertaking. 

The  delegation  to  America  was  far  above  the  average  negro.  Aside 
from  their  silk  stovepipe  hats  and  other  apparel  to  match,  they  dis 
played  no  small  degree  of  knowledge  and  intelligence.  They  spent 
several  weeks  in  this  country,  during  which  time  they  visited  Tuskegee 
Institute  and  many  other  places  of  interest  to  them. 

They  gave  Booker  T.  Washington  an  idea  of  their  situation  in  Liberia 
and  requested  his  co-operation  in  creating  a  friendly  influence  toward 
their  republic. 

The  colonization  society  has  now  on  deposit  about  $100,000,  the  in 
terest  of  which  maintains  a  board  of  trustees,  president  and  secretary. 
Little  financial  aid  can  at  present  be  given  to  negroes  who  desire  to 
colonize,  but  information  regarding  facilities  for  emmigration  are 
freely  distributed. 

Persons  wishing  to  emigrate  to  Liberia  and  desiring  information  or 
assistance  should  address  "Mr.  J.  Ormond  Wilson,  secretary  of  the 
American  Colonization  Society,  Colonization  Rooms,  450  Pennsylvania 
avenue  northwest,  Washington,  D.  C.,"  giving  their  names,  ages,  and 
circumstances.  Applications  for  assistance  have  become  so  numerous 
that  the  society  will  hereafter  give  the  preference,  all  other  things  being 
equal,  to  those  who  will  pay  the  most  toward  the  cost  of  their  passage 
and  settlement  in  Liberia. 

When  I  called  at  Mr.  Wilson's  office  I  was  surprised  to  find  the  old 
gentleman  in  sueh  a  hopeless  frame  of  mind  regarding  the  colonization 
movement.  He  threw  up  both  hands  as  he  said :  "Oh,  when  we  began 
there  were  only  2,000,000  negroes  in  the  United  States.  Now  there  are 
10,000,000.  We  received  $1,000,000  a  year  for  the  cause  at  that  time, 
but  we  receive  nothing  now." 

I  asked  him  if  he  had  read  Dr.  Shufeldt's  late  book  on  "The  Amer 
ican  Negro,"  and  he  replied  : 

"I  don't  read  anybody's  books  on  the  negro  question  any  more.    It  seems 
to  be  a  hopeless  case." 

Frederick  Douglass  was  one  of  the  great  men  of  the  negro  race.  He 
advocated  the  acquisition  of  some  of  the  islands  in  the  Caribbean  Sea 
to  be  held  by  this  government  and  governed  as  territories,  and  the  heads 


85 

of  families  of  American  negroes  who  voluntarily  emigrate  to  those 
islands  to  receive  homesteads  free  on  terms  similar  to  those  on  which 
homesteads  are  given  in  our  territories. 

President  Grant  indorsed  that  Douglass  proposition,  and  the  latter 
was  sent  to  Santo  Domingo  to  investigate.  Douglass  thoroughly  ex 
amined  the  resources  of  that  country  by  a  personal  visit  to  all  parts 
of  it,  and  on  his  return  made  a  favorable  report  to  President  Grant, 
stating  Santo  Domingo  was  capable  of  supporting  7,000,000  people. 
Senator  Charles  Sumner  was  instrumental  in  overthrowing  all  further 
investigations  or  plans  for  any  action  on  the  subject  at  that  time. 


86 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE    OPINION   OF   AMERICO-LIBERIANS   REGARDING    COLONIZATION 

THERE. 

The  Hon.  S.  T.  Prout,  postmaster-general  of  the  republic,  couched 
his  views  in  the  following  paragraph: 

"Too  many  should  not  come  at  one  time.  They  should  be  able  to  support 
themselves  for  at  least  six  months,  and  be  prepared  to  build  their  houses, 
and  open  farms,  etc.  The  kind  of  immigration  wanted:  First,  men  and 
women  who  are  not  ignorant,  worn-out  or  needy.  These  will  only  be  a 
burden  to  our  government.  They  should,  therefore,  be  skilled  laborers,  and 
possess  a  certain  amount  of  capital  to  give  them  a  start.  Second,  they  should 
bring  their  books,  if  professional  men ;  or  their  tools  and  implements,  if 
mechanics  or  farmers.  Doctors  should  come  supplied  and  prepared  for 
work.  Third,  men  and  women  are  wanted  who  are  patriotic  lovers  of  free 
dom,  self-reliant  men,  men  of  push,  men  who  can  originate  ideas  and  execute 
them,  responsible  men,  men  who  come  determined  to  stand  by  the  Republic 
of  Liberia  and  succeed  as  she  succeeds,  or  fall  as  the  republic  falls;  moral, 
industrious,  Christian  men.  These  are  the  men  and  women  wanted  to  im 
migrate  from  America  to  Liberia.  Anything  short  of  this  had  better  remain 
where  they  are." 

The  Hon.  Daniel  E.  Howard,  secretary  of  the  treasury,  expressed 
himself  in  the  following  words  : 

"The  people  of  Liberia  are  ready  and  willing  to  welcome  all  worthy  and 
thrifty  negroes  who  have  a  right  idea  of  manhood  and  freedom,  and  who 
are  willing  to  endure  hardships  and  really  persuaded  in  their  own  minds 
that  they  can  live  in  Liberia.  If  those  who  desire  to  immigrate  have  really 
gotten  enough  of  all  they  can  get  out  of  America,  the  good  and  the  bad, 
then,  and  not  till  then,  let  them  come.  They  must  be  willing  to  leave  the 
flesh  pots  as  well  as  the  lynching.  Of  course,  every  sane  person  will  agree 
that  an  indiscriminate,  heterogenous,  wholesale  influx  of  negroes  or  anybody 
else  would  be  undesirable  here  or  anywhere  else. 

"An  absolute  discriminate  immigration  is  needed,  and,  therefore,  preferred 
in  Liberia." 

Discussing  the  subject  of  immigration  July  26,  1905,  on  the  occasion 
of  the  national  celebration,  Mr.  Thomas  W.  Howard,  at  that  time  postmaster 
at  Monrovia,  expressed  the  following  sentiments  which  were  warmly  ap 
plauded  : 

"It  is  absolutely  necessary  that  every  inducement  should  be  given  to  the 
return  of  our  brethren  across  the  sea  to  their  fatherland.  But  it  should  be 
distinctly  understood  that  none  but  those  who  are  capable  of  coming  to  assist 
ur,  in  solving  the  great  problems  of  the  state  are  needed,  for,  quoting  the 


remarks  made  by  Bishop  H.  M.  Turner,  a  celebrated  negro  of  the  United 
States,  'They  had  better  stay  there  and  die  as  dogs'  than  to  come  to  Liberia 
in  a  helpless  and  useless  condition.  We  want  no  such  men  in  Liberia. 

"Never  before  in  the  history  of  the  republic  has  there  been  a  greater  need 
for  immigration  than  at  the  present  time,  for  the  purpose  of  infusing  into 
our  body  politic  new  blood  and  energy.  But  this  need  is  for  a  select  class 
of  negro  immigrants,  not  only  from  the  United  States,  but  also  from  the 
West  Indies  and  other  parts  of  West  Africa.  Men  of  intelligence,  industry, 
thrift  and  patriotism.  Not  a  lazy,  thriftless  class,  seeking  a  place  of  rest, 
but  a  class  realizing  the  dignity  of  labor  and  the  true  meaning  of  national 
independence.  Liberia  has  passed  her  pioneering  period  and  has  now  en 
tered  upon  a  constructive  era,  and  as  such  must  have  within  herself  creative 
elements  of  the  kind  just  mentioned,  otherwise  her  progress  will  be  retarded 
and  a  repetition  of  the  scene  which  has  presented  itself  to  us  in  the  care  of 
the  recent  immigrants  from  the  United  States  which  the  government  located 
at  Cheesemanburg." 

The  following  is  a  part  of  President  Barclay's  inaugural  address,  at 
Monrovia : 

"The  colored  American,  or,  rather,  the  class  that  would  be  a  valuable 
acquisition  to  the  country — the  men  of  some  culture,  the  small  capitalist, 
and  the  men  of  initiative  and  push,  are  not  inclined  at  present  to  come  to 
Liberia.  The  leaders  of  the  colored  people  are  opposed  to  immigration  to 
Liberia.  They  are  in  the  fight  for  social  and  political  equality  with  the 
white  American.  The  success  of  the  struggle  is  for  them  very  doubtful,  if 
not  entirely  hopeless.  The  negro  masses  are  being  lifted  gradually  and 
slowly,  learning  self-reliance,  thrift  and  initiative.  It  is  important  that  the 
intending  immigrant  possess  these  qualities ;  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the 
country  is  not  prepared  for  the  movement.  While  preparing  a  home  the 
immigrant  must  have  facilities  for  procuring  work.  At  present  these  do 
not  exist.  There  is  a  class  of  men  slowly  coming  into  the  country  who  will 
likely  prove  a  most  useful  acquisition.  They  are  rather  above  the  average. 
As  the  country  develops  and  opportunities  offer  they  will  encourage  their 
friends  to  come  over." 

On  one  occasion  of  the  Fourth  of  July,  at  the  American  Legation  in 
Monrovia,  President  Barclay,  in  response  to  the  address  of  Minister 
Lyon,  ^vho  proposed  the  sentiment,  "The  Republic  of  Liberia  and  the 
Health  of  its  Chief  Executive,"  said,  among  other  things : 

"For  my  own  part,  I  think  it  is  providential  that  there  has  been  no  great 
rush  of  civilized  negroes  from  America  or  elsewhere.  There  is  the  great 
danger  that  they  would  form  a  caste  and  would  have  and  manifest  an  undue 
feeling  of  superiority  calculated  not  to  attract,  but  to  repel  their  aboriginal 
brothers.  Yet,  I  am  aware  that  our  state  must  have  accessions  of  civilized 
persons  of  negro  blood  from  America  and  the  West  Indies ;  but  we  must  all 
see  the  danger  of  the  incoming  at  this  critical  period,  when  we  are  trying 
to  place  on  a  proper  footing  our  relations  with  the  tribal  communities  of  the 
country  of  a  great  number  of  people  ignorant  alike  of  the  experience  through 
which  the  older  settlers  have  passed  and  of  their  conclusions  thereupon ;  and, 
for  some  years,  at  least,  after  settlement,  careless  of  both  national  organism 
and  ideal." 


88 

From  these  remarks  we  readily  see  that  the  Americo-Liberians  will 
oppose  any  movement  to  colonize  the  entire  negro  race  in  Liberia.  The 
white  people  who  are  connected  with  the  interests  of  the  Liberian  gov 
ernment,  such  as  Consul-General  of  Liberia  C.  H.  Adams  of  Boston, 
A.  L.  Bassler  of  New  York,  and  others,  are  also  opposed  to  a  general 
transportation  of  the  negroes  to  Africa.  They  live  so  far  from  the 
masses  of  the  negroes  of  the  South  that  they  do  not  realize  true  condi 
tions  there.  They  consider  only  the  welfare  of  the  negro  regardless 
of  the  Southern  white  population. 

Under  such  circumstances  there  is  no  relief  for  America  from  that 
source. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS. 

No  two  races  have  ever  been  able  to  live  together  on  terms  of 
political  and  social  equality,  and  whoever  believes  that  history  will  be 
reversed  in  this  republic  in  reference  to  these  two  races  is  a  dreamer 
and  not  a  statesman. 

What,  then,  is  best  for  both  races?  Can  a  method  be  found  that 
will,  to  some  extent,  settle  this  growing  and  dangerous  race  question 
and  be  just  to  both  races?  I  believe  it  possible. 

The  home  of  the  negro  race  has  for  unknown  ages  been  near  the 
earth's  equator  in  a  hot,  wet  climate,  and  it  is  wholly  unnatural  for  the 
negro  to  migrate  into  a  northern  climate.  Statistics  show  that  in  pro 
portion  to  population  consumption  kills  two  negroes  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  to  one  white  person.  In  Florida  consumption  is  scarcely 
known  among  the  negroes.  There  they  are  so  healthful  that  their  skins 
glisten  like  polished  ebony,  and  they  are  the  happiest  people  on  earth. 

It  would,  therefore,  be  advantageous  to  both  races  if  the  negroes 
would  consent  to  colonization  in  South  America,  Cuba.  Porto  Rico, 
San  Domingo,  or  in  the  southeastern  corner  of  the  United  States. 

Colonization  has  not  been  advocated  entirely  by  the  white  people  of 
the  country.  Although  the  majority  of  the  negroes  at  first  resent  such 
a  plan  until  advocated  by  the  leaders  of  their  race,  some  of  them  have 
shown  a  desire  to  colonize. 

Frequent  crusades  have  been  made  through  the  South  by  the  more 
intelligent  and  educated  colored  people,  holding  meetings  for  the  pur 
pose  of  arousing  enthusiasm  among  their  race  to  stimulate  the  move 
ment  of  immigration  to  Liberia. 

In  many  such  instances  Scripture  was  quoted,  songs  sung,  and 
speeches  made,  and  finally  a  collection  taken  for  the  good  of  the  cause, 
and  the  agitators  moved  on  to  the  next  place.  Said  agitators  made  a 
good  living  at  that  business  for  several  years. 

Recently,  however,  a  few  of  the  foremost  negroes  of  the  United 
States  are  beginning  to  realize  that  their  race  would  enjoy  more  free 
dom  if  colonized  in  another  country.  They  are,  therefore,  manifesting 
an  interest  in  the  movement. 

On  October  30,  1893,  a  delegation  of  colored  lawyers  met  at  Chat 
tanooga,  Tennessee,  and  proceeded  to  Washington,  £).  C.,  to  ask  Con- 


90 

gress  for  $i,cxx),(X>o,ooo  with  which  to  send  their  race  back  to  Liberia. 
Representative  Murray,  of  the  Seventh  South  Carolina  District,  al 
though  not  as  enthusiastic  over  the  project  as  the  others,  presented 
their  cause  to  Congress,  but  met  with  no  success. 

On  October  20,  1885,  fifty  prominent  negroes  of  Kansas,  Missouri, 
Arkansas,  and  Kentucky  met  at  Topeka,  Kansas,  and  organized  a 
"Central  and  South  American  Immigration  Association  and  Equal 
Rights  League  of  the  Western  Continent."  The  object  of  the  organi 
zation  was  to  build  new  homes  in  Central  and  South  America,  colonize 
the  negroes  of  America  there  and  thus  solve  the  race  problem. 

After  a  great  deal  of  discussion,  in  which  no  definite  conclusions 
were  reached,  they  disbanded,  and  each  proceeded  to  lecture  to  the 
negroes  of  his  native  town  or  district  on  the  merits  of  the  undertaking. 
These  efforts  likewise  produced  no  results. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  negroes  could  be  transported  to  Liberia 
at  a  cost  of  $100  per  head,  while  many  of  the  ships  would  be  returned 
empty,  and  to  South  America  for  $15  per  head,  and  the  ships  returned 
with  cargoes  of  sugar  and  coffee,  the  latter  would  be  the  more  feasible 
plan. 

It  was  then  proposed  that  every  state  in  the  Union  be  requested  to 
organize  a  branch  of  the  society  to  push  the  scheme  and  raise  funds 
sufficient  to  send  one  hundred  families  to  South  America  on  an  experi 
ment,  each  state  to  arrange  with  a  national  board  for  the  transportation. 

As  suggested  by  Dr.  Shufeldt,  should  they  depart  from  the  stations 
or  steamboat  wharves  of  their  present  home  villages  singing  their  old 
plantation  songs  an  enthusiasm  would  probably  be  created  among  them 
and  many  of  those  remaining  would  want  to  go  along. 

To  successfully  carry  out  such  plans  it  will  be  necessary  to  build  a 
few  vessels  to  ply  between  New  Orleans  and  South  America,  collect 
and  diffuse  full  and  reliable  information  regarding  the  country  into 
which  they  are  to  be  taken,  secure  the  sympathy  of  the  rank  and  file 
of  both  races  regarding  the  movement,  secure  funds  to  apply  on  educa 
tion  and  to  foster  a  system  of  public  schools. 

Bishop  Turner,  the  great  religious  leader  of  his  race  in  the  South, 
says  the  negro  race  must  emigrate  and  go  out  of  this  country,  as  the 
Hebrews  went  out  of  Egypt.  If  our  government  should  adopt  the 
Fred  Douglass  plan,  Bishop  Turner  would  probably  lead  his  people  to 
San  Domingo. 

Those  negro  island  governments  would  be  accorded  free  trade  with 
the  states,  the  same  as  exists  now  with  our  continental  territories,  and 
that  would  give  them  a  chance  to  utilize  these  islands  that  are  now 
immensely  rich  in  natural  resources. 

How  the  problem  will  eventually  be  solved  no  one  can  tell.  Colon 
ization  to  any  appreciable  extent  will  probably  never  be  accomplished 


91 

outside  of  the  United  States  unless  a  race  war  should  occur.  Under 
proper  regulations,  however,  the  American  negroes  are  a  most  peace 
able  class  of  citizens. 

Alpeople  who  are  so  mixed  with  another,  as  dodder  in  alfalfa,  are 
almost  impossible  to  eradicate.  They  could  be  colonized,  however,  in 
the  southeastern  corner  of  the  United  States. 

As  extensive  traveling  becomes  more  popular  each  year  a  larger 
number  of  people  will  visit  and  become  familiar  with  race  conditions 
in  the  South.  They  will  then  invariably  be  ready  to  sympathize  with 
the  southern  whites. 

The  educated  negroes  will  advance  through  succeeding  generations 
in  the  natural  course  of  evolution.  Several  generations  of  consistent 
study  will  be  required,  however,  on  the  part  of  the  negro  to  capacitate 
him  for  education. 

Immigration  of  the  northern  people  into  the  South  will  probably 
result  in  an  example  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  and  crowd  the 
ignorant  negro  into  local  colonies,  where  his  habits  and  conditions  can 
be  no  worse  than  is  the  case  in  such  colonies  at  the  present  time. 

The  negro  leaders,  such  as  Booker  T.  Washington,  can  do  more 
to  uplift  and  educate  the  race  than  the  combined  forces  of  white  mis 
sionaries.  Just  as  the  religion  of  the  white  man  has  been  disseminated 
among  the  colored  people  through  the  negro  preachers,  so  must  all 
negro  principles  of  morality,  culture,  and  ethics,  etc.,  be  derived  from 
the  white  race  and  transmitted  to  the  lower  race  through  the  agents 
of  that  race. 

In  all  race  troubles,  whether  they  are  with  the  Indian,  Mongolian,  or 
negro,  the  people  of  the  section  where  the  friction  occurs  should  be 
permitted  to  direct  the  course  of  readjustment 'or  solution,  and  should 
receive  the  sympathy  and  support  of  the  entire  nation. 

Therefore  I  say,  until  the  question  becomes  a  national  issue,  leave 
the  southern  negro  to  the  South  and  the  northern  negro  to  the  North. 
Neither  section  can  solve  the  problems  of  the  other,  but  each  should 
lend  their  sympathy  on  such  grave  questions. 

Leave  the  ballot  in  the  hands  of  the  illiterate  negro,  place  liquor 
where  he  can  get  it,  permit  miscegenation,  and  advocate  social  equality, 
and  the  trouble  will  never  end. 

Give  the  negro  educational  advantages,  but  show  him  his  place,  and 
the  illiterate  of  his  race  will  to  a  great  extent  colonize  in  various  locali 
ties  of  the  South  and  probably  become  as  near  harmless  as  is  possible 
on  American  soil.  The  mulattoes  and  more  progressive  negroes  will 
not  be  a  great  burden  to  the  North  under  such  conditions. 


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182799 


